Can't Stop Now
by BurntOrange
Summary: [Miracle] The typical Miracle fic setup: Natalie is Doc's niece who is drafted to be the team's part nurse and part counselor during the training of the team. Romance and angst builds up between her and a few players. Complete.
1. Way We Get By

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimer: I own none of these characters except for Natalie and any other extraneous characters that might appear later on. Everything else—not __mine_

_I haven't written anything in forever, seriously. This is the first thing I have posted to and the first Miracle __fic__ I've written. Also, I am really into music so I'll usually have a song suggestion for you to read along to, and most of the songs will not be time-appropriate so please forgive me._

_Rating: PG-13 unless told otherwise._

_Song: "Way We Get By" by Spoon_

Time seemed to drag by after 4pm, the last hour of her shift was always hell. Natalie tapped her fingernails on her counter of the nurse's station of which she was leaning against. She was almost depressed how boring and scheduled her job had become after a month of starting work. Natalie was a recent graduate from the University of Minnesota, where she was a nursing student and her uncle was the physician on hand for the hockey team. Her uncle allowed her to visit and help him take care of the athletes whenever an extra hand was needed, which was often.

Due to the amount of time she spent with the team, she made friends with most of the guys, and she became very close with a few of them. Plus, since she was a student and lived either on or near campus, they often invited her on the weekends to bars, parties, or whatever their weekend antics would be. The money she could make by blackmailing the guys would allow her not to work for a few months.

The June heat was excruciating, Natalie started to tug at the starched collar of her white uniform. Hopefully a fellow co-worker was planning a night out for a few drinks, or maybe her good friend Bill Baker would call and invite her to something. The phone at her station rang and after one ring, she picked up, "Hello, Mercy West Hospital Psychology ward."

A voice with an unmistakable accent was on the other line, "Hello, is Ms. McCleary available?"

"This is she, how are you Doc?" Doc, the term of endearment almost everyone that knows her uncle calls him, the only people not to call him that were his wife and his sister, who was Natalie's mother.

"Same as always, is this a bad time?"

A light started to flash on the callboard, Room 3453C was pressing the Call Nurse button. "Yes, but I get off work soon, I'll call you back."

"Of course child, talk to you soon." Natalie hung up the phone and checked on her patient in Room 3453C, who ended up needing to be told that indeed Santa was real.

After her 15-minute description of what Santa's workshop looked like, Natalie left the room and ran into the managing nurse practitioner of the floor, "McCleary, you can go home early—we have enough people here." Nodding, she blew a sigh of relief and changed before she drove home. There she called her beloved uncle back. After the normal small talk that included an update of their on-goings and how Natalie's mother was, the reason for the phone call was told.

"Herb is coaching the hockey team for the Olympics."

"Really? That's great…do you get to go?"

"Yes, yes…but he wants someone else to accompany me, to help me in case we have too many injuries at one time and he is especially hoping that the person will have a background in psychology—to help the boys cope with the stress."

"But Doc, I only minored in psychology—I cannot helpful since I am not a practicing Psychologist."

"I understand, but Herb was thinking that the boys wouldn't feel comfortable talking to a professional, you are much more approachable. Plus, you have been around his team for four years so you understand the stress these men are under."

"Yes, but…that was college. This is the Olympics!"

"Please consider it. I must go, Velpa just finished preparing dinner. Talk to you later Natalia."

Natalie hung up her phone and groaned, she was sorely tempted to take up the offer. Plus, Doc ended the call with her real name—and that was his quiet way of expressing his endearment for her. And that always made her feel guilty. She was always a favorite of his and she knew that sharing this experience would mean a lot to him. Taking her dark brown hair out of the required tight bun, she shook her head and rested her head on her hand. The first step was to tell her mother, who will not be pleased. That is until she was told that Doc suggested this.


	2. Island in the Sun

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written By: __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers are same from Chapter 1._

_Song__: "__Island in the Sun" by __Weezer__ (Doesn't go, just makes me happy)_

Two weeks later Natalie was in Colorado Springs, sitting in the top row of the arena that the Broadmoor Hotel had. Herb instructed her not to help Doc today but instead watch the interaction between the players he had on a list. Natalie didn't know what exactly was going on but she had a hunch that Herb already chose his roster, especially since he asked her to be extremely careful to not let any of the USOC representatives to see it. Thankfully they seemed to ignore her once they caught word that she was "just Doc's niece."

To be honest, Natalie didn't understand what Herb was expecting her to do there—there is only so much she could look out for during an Olympic tryout. She set her clipboard in her lap and used it to help her prop her elbows up. A few faces looked familiar—a lot of guys from Minnesota were trying out, including Bill, whom she had drinks with the night before. She looked at the list again and smiled to herself as she saw Bill's name included with several other guys from Minnesota on it. At least she knew that for seven months she would have friends around. Checking her watch, Natalie saw that it was time to check up on the copies she had made, Herb asked her to find an intricate and extraordinarily long psychology test for the boys to take. Unable to find anything that he agreed with, she pulled a few strings for one of her former professors to write a test for the team.

The copies were made and Natalie used the rest of the time she had stapling them together. She walked back to the arena to see that Craig was announcing the roster of 26 names. Silently slipping the stack in front of Coach Patrick, she stood off to the side, about 10 feet behind Doc. Every so often she caught eye contact with a player she knew and they would exchange a slight smile. Herb entered the arena and within a few simple sentences he let the team know who was boos. When he was done he walked out of the arena, directing the players attention back to Craig.

"Coach has some homework for you to do before you…celebrate."

After Craig dismissed them, Bill ran up to Natalie and gave her a hug, "Now you really do have to put up with me for another seven months."

Natalie smiled at him, "Yeah, Herb wants me to make sure you are all mentally…sane I guess. Y'know, try to have everyone get along and such. Plus I get to help Doc out from time to time."

"Ha! Good luck having the Minnesota guys get along with the guys from Boston. We'll never see the day that happens." He looked behind him at the few guys waiting for him by the exit, they waved at Natalie. "The guys and I are going out tonight. Care to join?"

"Another night of drunken debauchery with my favorite group of guys? Of course I am there, who else would get you guys girls?"

"Ha ha…very nice. See you at Abels, y'know where we were last night? Around 7?"

"See you there."


	3. Speak to Me

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimer: Same as Chapter 1_

_Song: "Speak to Me" by Rocco __DeLuca__ & the Burden _

Natalie walked into Abels at 7:10, fashionably late (in her own opinion) in a basic brown T with her jeans and heels. After a quick glance she saw that most of the team was present, all of them but one taking the 300-question test that was given to them. They were also separated into two groups—Minnesota and Boston. She found the Minnesota and greeted the guys as she sat down between Robbie and Buzzy, "Hello guys…enjoying those tests?"

Buzzy grinned, "I'm done!" The entire tabled gaped at him, versions of "You're already done?" exclaimed around him.

She smiled, "Good for you. Now go buy me a drink."

Buzzy smiled again and got up to get Natalie a drink. Meanwhile Robbie leaned closer to her, "Baker told us that you'll be around some more, but to keep us sane?"

Natalie shrugged, "Sort of, supposedly I am to put my Psychology minor to use."

Robbie grinned, "So _you_ are to blame for this long-ass test?"

Buzzy came back, sliding a beer in front of Natalie and she took a sip after shaking her head, "No, Herb asked me to find a psychology test and apparently each one I suggested wasn't good enough so he had a professor at the U write this one."

Bill groaned, "Of course, how very Herb of him…"

Natalie shrugged and glanced at the Boston table, "Hey Robbie," she turned her body towards him, putting her hand in the back of his chair, "Why are you getting dirty looks from that fellow over there?"

Robbie glanced over at the table and then looked back at Natalie, "He's still hung up on '76."

"'76?" she questioned.

"'76."

"Geez, that was three years ago."

"I know…but Rizzo is a pretty cool guy."

Natalie shook her head again and stood up, well I am going to go mingle…can't only talk to you guys for seven months…" She decided to meet these Boston boys who still seemed bitter about a college rivalry. "Hello…I'm Natalie." She held out her hand towards the boys.

One of them who looked friendly nodded and smiled before shaking her hand, "Mike…but everyone calls me Rizzo."

Natalie smiled and nodded, "Right. Nice to meet you. "

The one who was sending the venomous glares in Robbie's direction looked her up and down, "Who the hell are you? Their groupie?"

"OC!" objected Rizzo.

Narrowing her eyes, she got a good look at this OC character, "I'm Natalie, Doc's niece. You might want to rethink the next time you give me another snarky comment because someday I could be the one who is wrapping your sprained ankle or helping you nurse a hurt knee."

OC slowly nodded and smirked as he pointed at her, "I like this one Rizzo. She doesn't put up with bull." He turned back to Natalie, "Sit with us…have a drink."

Natalie slightly shook the bottle she was nursing, "I'm fine, thanks." She looked down at the two boys she was standing behind, "Sorry, I didn't get your names."

"Dave Silk, or Silkie…whatever works for you," said one holding out his hand.

"Ralph Cox," said the other, also holding out his hand.

Natalie smiled as she shook both of their hands and ventured back to the table where the Minnesota guys were finishing up their tests. Her original chair was still vacant, so she slipped into it, shaking her head at Robbie. "That OC sure has a temper."

"I already knew that very well…Hey, that bottle looks pretty empty. Want a refill?" asked Robbie while pointing at her now-empty beer bottle.

"Why Robbie McClanahan, are you trying to get me drunk?" Natalie joked.

Robbie smiled, "Maybe I am. So how 'bout it, want another?"

"Careful Mac, remember last time we went out with her? She was dancing on the bar by the end of the night," quipped Bill.

"Thank you Bill, but there will be no bar dancing tonight. Sorry to disappoint you boys. And yes Robbie, I would gladly accept a beer."

"C'mon, I'll get you another beer," said Robbie as he stood up.

"And why do I have to go with you?"

"Because you'll have to pay me back with a dance."

Shaking her head, Natalie stood up, "It better be one good beer."

"Hey!" exclaimed Robbie while poking her side, "I am a great dancer."

Soon after Robbie and Natalie started to dance, more people in the bar started dancing and before the end of the night, Natalie had her fair share of dances with the boys. After the bartender made their last call, Rizzo turned to her, "Where are you staying?"

"Oh, a friend's house. It's not far."

"Want me to walk you back?"

Natalie smiled at him, "Thanks. But I have my car here and I am in fine shape to drive. Do you need a ride?"

Rizzo smiled, "Well I am pretty sober, but a few of those guys might not be." He pointed in the direction of Robbie, Buzzy, and Silkie.

Looking over her shoulder at them and then back at Rizzo, she laughed, "Help me get them home. Are you guys at the college campus or the Olympic Center?"

"Campus. Much to OC's joy."

Natalie rolled her eyes, "Oh please. Okay, let's get these very inebriated guys back to their rooms." After much struggling, Natalie and Rizzo were able to get Robbie seated in the passenger seat and Buzzy and Silkie on either side of Rizzo in the back. "Okay guys, one of you need to give me directions to your rooms."

Robbie leaned his head against the window, "It's…in Colorado Springs."

Natalie shook her head as she pulled out of the parking lot, "Thanks Robbie, that was really helpful." Thankfully Rizzo gave her directions and before she knew it, they were lugging the drunken three to their rooms. Silkie was rooming with Rizzo, so they left him in his room before helping the other two, who also happened to be roommates. "Let's get you guys into some comfortable clothes and drinking some water."

Buzzy shook his head, "Rizzo, you'll have to change me. My wife'll kill me if Natalie does it."

Rizzio nodded, "Okay, can do." He turned to Natalie, "I can finish here. I don't want you to feel awkward changing these guys."

She scoffed, "Please, I've been their pseudo-nurse for four years, there isn't much that I haven't seen." Natalie looked at Robbie, "Where are your clothes?" Robbie drunkenly pointed to a dresser, where Natalie found a large T-shirt. "Okay, hold your arms up so I can help you get this polo off."

He did as he was told, and after Natalie helped him put on a clean T-shirt and take off his jeans he gave her a momentary blank stare, "You're really beautiful. You know that, right Nat? And I mean heartbreakingly beautiful."

Natalie slightly smiled, she forgot how entertaining drunk Robbie was, "Thank you. Now go to sleep. There is a glass of water on your nightstand and the trash can is right next to you." He nodded slowly and she helped him cover himself with the comforter before exiting to the hall where Rizzo was waiting for her.

"Thanks for your help Natalie, sure you don't want me to take you back to your place?"

"Trust me, I'll be fine. Thanks though." She started to walk down the hall, but paused and turned around to face him again, "You might want to make sure that their heads are turned to the side." She continued to walk down the hall, "See you in Minnesota!"


	4. Stay

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers are the same from Chapter 1_

_Song: "__Stay__" by__ Small Sins_

The first day of practice in Minnesota came quickly and Natalie sat amongst the seats directly behind the boards near the middle of the rink. She found it amusing that she had to wear a sweater in the middle of summer, but in her mind is was balanced out with her skirt and knee-high boots. Even though she had no intention of impressing any of the boys, looking good made her feel good. She had a bet with herself, by the next day she'd stop caring and would be in a sweater and jeans.

Her task for the day was to watch practice and see how the boys interacted with each other and ways to improve their interaction. Herb wanted true camaraderie amongst the team; he saw it as one of his top priorities.

Players trickled onto the rink, slowly warming up and stretching for the day's practice. Making sure she had her mug of coffee nearby, Natalie didn't see Robbie skate up in front of her until he tapped on the plexi-glass. "Hey, so I was told that I was pretty drunk the other night."

Natalie nodded, "Yeah, I forgot how funny and full of bull you are when intoxicated." She smiled, trying to somehow reassure him that everything was fine.

Robbie groaned, "Oh dear God, what did I say?"

Biting her lip, she replied, "Well...you said that I was heartbreakingly beautiful."

He started to turn a light shade of pink, "Oh…well, I could've said worse, right?"

Nodding, Natalie tried to not laugh, "Oh yeah, definitely."

Looking behind him, he gestured towards the center of the rink with his thumb, "Well, I better go…" He started to skate off but turned around briefly, "And just so you know, I am not full of bull when I am drunk."

Natalie watched him join the team and snorted, "Right…"

Practice started and once Herb sorted everyone out to their lines and explained the goal of the day's practice, the lines started to play each other. Unless her eyes were deceiving her, there was a wrong player out on the ice…OC. Once the whistle was blown Natalie watched OC ram himself into Robbie. "Oh Jesus…" she muttered.

A fist-fight broke out between the two and Herb made no motion to try to end it. Natalie watched Coach Patrick and some of the team watch uncomfortably while others were cheering for either Robbie or OC, all dependent on their college. To tell the truth, Natalie felt irritated watching the fight—she had a hunch of what Herb was up to allowing it to continue, but did he really expect it to work?

Finally team members decided it was enough and pulled the two apart. Robbie was bleeding from his nose and there seemed to be no damage done to OC. Herb stared at the two players and then to Craig, "This look like hockey to you? It looks like two monkeys trying to hump a football, what do you think Craig?"

Craig shrugged, still dismayed by Herb's behavior, "Yeah…"

Herb continued and asked some of the players to introduce themselves—name, hometown, and who they played for. After Coxie's "I'm from wherever doesn't get me hit" as his team, it clicked in Natalie's head. These young men didn't see themselves as a team. They were still grasping onto their college loyalties or their soon to-be pro teams. None of them saw themselves as part of "Team USA." Once they realized and accepted that, this group of boys would change from a group to a team.

Natalie poked her head into Herb's office during the lunch break, he was working non-stop—reading, researching, writing while Natalie spoke with him. She shared her concerns and thoughts about the team, and Herb seemed to listen, but Natalie could never really tell if he was paying attention. He thanked her and dismissed her after saying there would only be about two more hours of practice that day.

The three hours flew by, although maybe an hour of them Natalie dozed off. As the players were showering and changing in the locker room, she checked on Doc to see if he needed any assistance. She was answered with a "No, no…go ahead and go home Natalia." She nodded and turned around, almost running into Robbie.

"Hey, a few of us were planning on getting some dinner—care to join?"

Natalie smiled, "Yeah, that sounds great—my fridge is empty and I am starving. I'll just wait for you guys in the hall."

Robbie nodded, "Okay, we'll be out soon." He was the first one out of the locker room and leaned against the opposite wall as Natalie. "So, your real name is Natalia?"

"You heard Doc?" He nodded and Natalie smiled, "Yeah, it's my full name but everyone else calls me Natalie. I guess Doc just prefers it."

"Yeah, well…it is pretty," he said while staring at her.

Natalie caught herself staring back at Robbie until Bill walked out of the locker room, "Okay, we are waiting for Verchota and Bah." He looked at both of them, "Did I interrupt anything?"

Robbie shook his head, "No, we're tired, that's all Baker."

Bill nodded, "Okay…" Bah and Verchota joined them and he smiled, "Let's go."


	5. The Slow Decent Into Alcoholism

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written By: __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers: Same as Chapter 1_

_Song: "The Slow Decent __Into__ Alcoholism" by The New Pornographers (Trust me, it fits)_

_Neonnbible__: Thank you so much for your kind review! It definitely inspires me to keep writing when I know someone is reading this and liking it!_

Dinner was fun, full of conversation and alcohol—always a great combination. The boys somehow persuaded Natalie to join them back at the University dorms, according to them there was a large poker game happening between the rest of the Minnesota folk, even Buzzy was spending the night away from home for the game.

Natalie tried to hide her intoxication and attempted not to stumble down the halls past other guys' doors. Grasping on Bill's arm, she burst into loud giggles as she almost ran into the wall. The loud giggles caused Rizzo to open the door, "What the---" He saw Natalie and his face softened and he smiled, "Did you guys get her drunk?"

"Yep! They sure did and it's lovely! You should get drunk too Rizzo!" Natalie half said/ half yelled. She let go of Bill's arm, "There's a poker game down the hall, or at least that is what they're telling me. You should come with!" Natalie stumbled slightly at the end of her sentence and blew a lock of hair out of her face. "Let's go Robbie!" She latched onto Robbie's arm, "Onwards!"

Robbie chuckled, "Alright drunkie, c'mon Rizzo—it'll be fun."

Rizzo made a thinking noise, "Ehhh…alright, I can't lose too much money—I'm broke as is." He started walking down the hall with the group, watching Natalie. "Does Herb have a curfew for us?"

"HA!" Natalie interjected and she looked at the boys staring at her. "What?" She looked at Rizzo, "Herb will never have curfews or room checks or anything. You wanna know why?"

Rizzo smirked, "Why?"

"Because he knows that if he does, his best players will always get caught and then he'll be screwed. Screwed I tell you!"

After avoiding Natalie's wandering hands and her drunken klutziness, the boys were finally able to sit her in a chair in Bah's room—where the game was taking place. Bah smirked once he got a set of cards dealt to him. "Y'know…we should turn this into a game of strip poker."

"Jesus Bah, no one wants to see you naked more than they have to," said Baker.

"Yeah…and I'm not taking off any of my clothes thank you." Natalie said while crossing her arms, "Heeyy Robbie…can you help me take off my shoes?"

"Damn! My plan is foiled," Bah said as he set out his bet.

"Don't worry, she'll be just as entertaining clothed as she would be naked," chuckled Robbie as he assisted Natalie taking off her shoes. Sadly, the poker game did not go over very well due to Natalie looking over everyone's shoulder and calling out their hand. Nevertheless, everyone had fun.

Natalie woke up the next morning on top of her bed, all of her clothes on—sans shoes. Her head felt like someone beat it with a baseball bat, her stomach felt like it was a bottomless pit, and every joint in her body felt like it was 90+ years old. She had a hangover. Sliding off the bed, Natalie lost her balance the moment her feet hit the floor and she fell sideways into her closet. "Oh F—"

"You're up!" There was Bill, looking fairly well-rested with an amused smirk on his face. "Do you remember anything from last night?"

Natalie nodded and stood up, she slightly glared at him and plodded her way to the kitchen to find as many bagels as possible and to eat every single one of them.

"You might be given a hard time this morning, but hey—I am sure that by the end of this experience everyone will have their mornings of hell."

"Coffee?" mouthed Natalie as she pointed to her empty mug. Her throat was still bone dry and the kitchen light needed to be turned off—it was making her headache worse.

"In the maker, right behind you," he replied, pointing to the coffee maker.

"Thanks," Natalie whispered hoarsely. "You can go home, I'm fine."

"You sure?" She nodded, "Okay, see you in a few." Bill kissed her forehead, "By the way, you have several fans on the team. And this is only after one practice!"

Natalie rolled her eyes at him and tossed her dish towel at his head as he left.


	6. Must Be Dreaming

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers: Same as Chapter 1_

_Vaughn__lover__alwaysand__forev__: Thank you so much for the review! I am glad that you caught onto that foreshadowing, even though I feel that it probably is very obvious to everyone. _

_Song: "Must be Dreaming" by __Frou__Frou_

Natalie never realized how bright the rink was until this morning. It was too bright. She wanted to wear sunglasses until she felt better, but Natalie had a feeling that Herb wouldn't be up for it. Plus, she was loaded up on painkillers and had a huge thermos of coffee next to her on one side and several bottles of water on the other. If she could work a 10-hour nursing shift where the first seven hours she was hungover, she could survive now.

Practice was surprisingly dull, every so often a guy who was on the bench would smile at her and silently laugh with images of the previous night in mind. Thankfully, everyone decided to be nice and avoid mentioning anything she said of did the night before. After the team was dismissed for the day, Natalie gathered her supplies, dropped off her notes/ideas to Herb and waited for Doc to finish with the boys. He invited her to have dinner with him and Velpa and Natalie was looking forward to a home-cooked meal.

While waiting, Robbie came out into the hallway and laughed when he saw Natalie. "So how bad is your hangover?"

Natalie grimaced, "Why must you mention it?"

"That bad?"

"I would ask you to never let me drink that much again, but I know that I can't trust you so it is a mute point."

Robbie covered his heart with his hand, "Ouch, that hurt Nat. You can trust me."

She smiled and rolled her eyes slightly, "You know what I mean."

He smiled back, "Yeah, I know…we seem to be each other's alcoholic partners in crime." He stared at her for a moment before looking down at the ground and shifting his weight on his feet, "So tomorrow Herb has scheduled a team dinner. Are you going to uhh…be there?"

Natalie shook her head, "I have to work tomorrow night."

"But I thought this was your job."

"Partly, I still have to work a few hours at the hospital every once in a while for them to take me back after the Olympics. Oh, and to get a deal on my prescriptions."

Robbie nodded, "What hospital do you work at?"

Natalie looked at her watch before looking back at him, "Mercy West. Usually I am in the psych ward, but since I am not working very often they'll be putting me on some other ward that requires less skill…like general medicine or something."

"Cool…" He gulped, "Are you free toni—" he was interrupted by Doc.

"Ready Natalia? Velpa said she would have dinner ready by seven so we need to hurry."

Natalie smiled, "Yeah I'm ready, let's go." She looked at Robbie, "See you tomorrow." Robbie feebly smiled and did a single wave as she left with Doc.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Natalie sighed, she was back in the hospital—in her uncomfortably starched uniform. She only had to work until midnight and she had two hours left. She could do it. Covering up a yawn, Natalie glanced down the hall—most rooms were dark, signaling that the patients were asleep or about to be. The other nurse on duty was roaming up and down the halls to make sure everything was as it should be. If Natalie was lucky, it would end as an uneventful evening.

"Psst…Natalie!"

Natalie turned in the direction towards the whisper. Down the hall she saw Bill, Silkie, and Robbie walking towards the Nurse Station. She smiled when she saw them, "Hey…how did you guys get in here? It's past visiting hours."

Silkie smirked, "We were able to sweet talk the old lady working the front desk into letting us in and telling us where you were."

Bill handed out a heavy paper plate covered with aluminum foil, "Doc said that you've been working since 3pm and we figured that you would be hungry."

Natalie took the plate, "Oh my God you guys are lifesavers I swear. Do you have a fork?"

Robbie smiled and handed a fork to her, "We came prepared."

She quickly snatched the fork out of his hand and pointed to the rolling chairs nearby, "Take a seat." Natalie started to eat, "It was really sweet of you guys to visit me."

"It was no problem, plus seeing you in the uniform makes it worthwhile," joked Robbie.

"Ha ha," Natalie said while rolling her eyes and concentrating on the food. "Was dinner fun?"

Bill snorted, "Sort of, with OC making comments about what a badass he was in Boston and Bah trying to one-up him each time."

Silkie chuckled, "Yeah, that's OC for you…hey, Rizzo wanted to come with. Where did he go?"

Robbie swiveled in his chair, "I think his mom called the room right before we were getting ready to leave, something about his brother…or his sister…"

Natalie raised her eyebrows while swallowing, "Oh, Rizzo was supposed to join you?"

"Yeah…" Robbie looked up at her, leaning his hands on his knees. "I'm sure most of us will end up visiting you here several times."

Bill nodded, "We should've told him where you worked Nat, he could've joined us when he got off the phone."

Natalie nodded once as she polished off her plate and Robbie shrugged, "Yeah, too bad I didn't think of that."

Done with dinner, Natalie threw the plate away and held up the fork, "Anyone attached to this?" The three boys shook their heads, "Okay, in the trash it goes." She leaned back against the counter and continued to converse with the boys and keep a watchful eye on the call board and the patrolling nurse who seemed to be eyeing one of the boys with a lustful eye. In her head Natalie started to place random pieces of the puzzle that this hockey team seemed to be and to catch onto some patterns and behaviors that were occurring. Bill mentioned that she had multiple "fans" as he said within the team already and Natalie started to have an idea who those fans were.

These next seven months were surely going to be interesting.


	7. Warning Sign

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers: Same as Chapter 1_

_Character Disclaimer: I feel that I have to say this in order for you guys to still like me and Natalie later on. Do any of you watch Grey's Anatomy? Well,__ the creator of the show (__Shond__a__Rhimes__) always says that Meredith is so appealing because she is flawed. In the next few chapters please remember that Natalie is smart, beautiful, but flawed. She isn't going to be making the best decisions and in reality neither do we._

_Thank you so much for the lovely reviews! They made my day so much better after a crappy workday (the espresso machine was down for 5 __hours :o_

_Vaughnloveralwaysandforev__: Thanks for the second review! I wish a guy would visit me at work too…scratch that—I wish a hot guy would visit me at work._

_beauty__queen321: Your review made me smile for about five minutes…I had to go back and read it again a few times. I am so glad that you like Natalie as much as I do, you shouldn't have to look too far for my inspiration, __they__ share the same first name._

_Song: "__Warning Sign__" by__ Coldplay_

The team's game abroad against Norway swiftly approached before most of the players could realize it. Natalie knew the boys were getting into great shape, but they were still nowhere near the caliber that Herb needed them to be and she could tell—a lot of them were getting injured too easily. But the injuries did keep Natalie and Doc busy each day.

A few nights before the team left for Norway Bill took Natalie out for a few drinks to catch up since they rarely got to spend time where it was just the two of them. Even though the team wasn't physically present, they seemed to be the topic for most of the discussion. Near the end of the night, the conversation took a serious turn.

"Natalie, I know that you are closer to some of the guys than others but you should just be…cautious."

Natalie snorted before taking a sip of beer, "Cautious? Cautious says you who being with a girl two nights in a row is one night too many?" She smiled, "Don't worry about it, I know a lot of those guys' reputations so I am forewarned."

Bill shook his head, "That's not quite it. I am sure that you have noticed that a few guys have been paying more attention to you than most…"

Natalie blinked and her mind drew a blank. She wasn't sure if she really didn't know who Bill was referring to or if she just didn't want to admit it. Sure, Robbie talked to her a lot and whatnot, but they were always like that—even in college. And her relationship with OC became a friendly game of busting each other's chops, but that was all fun and games. Silkie and her were drinking buddies—always trying to drink each other under the table, no harm there. She knew that she could always count on an intelligent and meaningful conversation with Coxie, nothing less than platonic there. And then there was Rizzo. Him. Natalie wasn't quite sure how she felt about him yet, ever since they met he was quite the gentleman and in the past few weeks he had been around her at a growing rate. He had always been more than attentive to Natalie.

Finishing off her bottle, Natalie looked at Bill, "I think you might need to explain a bit more."

"Okay…" he sighed, "Judging by your expression I don't think I need to name names here. There is one of the guys—you two have known each other for a long time and get along really well. Great actually. And the sexual tension between is escalating each day." He threw a few bills down on the bar to pay for the bill, "And then we have…underdog. You met him when he joined the team, he's a great guy, and except to Doc, Herb, Craig, and you…it is painfully obvious that he would worship the ground you walk on. The first guys seems to have picked up on this as well." He cleared his throat, "All I am saying is that you need to be careful what you project to these guys. This is a stressful time and it would hurt any of them to feel led on."

Natalie nodded somberly, "I understand…" she looked up at him, "You do know that none of this is intentional on my part, right?"

Bill laughed, "Oh come on. This is you we're talking about. Your junior year you were almost the female equivalent of me!"

Standing up, she rolled her eyes and put on her coat, "I wasn't _that_ bad."

The next day was the last practice before they traveled abroad and Doc took the day off to prepare, so Natalie stepped in. She came up with an idea that she hoped would help raise the low morale of the team and Herb approved of it with his trademarked grunt.

Natalie walked into the rink area freezing cold, but smiling in her nurse's uniform—cap included. This was the one time where she was grateful that her hospital's required uniform was one of the few that resembled the 1940's uniforms instead of the more popular but not so attractive current British blue uniform. The moment the boys saw her, the cat-calls began but she was able to silence them with a threat that if they continued she would change.

The first hour of practice Natalie suspected that she had a few too many "injuries" coming to her. But after she started to threaten that if she had any inkling that they were milking it she would tell Herb, the excessive injuries stopped. But that didn't stop the compliments, including a "You look really nice today" from Rizzo, an "Oooh baby, I'd let you me be my nurse any day" from OC, and "You're a heartbreaker Natalie" from Jimmy Craig. She wouldn't deny that it was a great esteem booster.

After practice Natalie was walking to her car when she heard someone calling out her name. After she turned around she saw that it was Rizzo, "Hey…what's up?"

"I was just wondering if uhh…you wanted to get some dinner…or something…"

Natalie smiled at his sheepishness, "Tonight?"

Rizzo nodded, "Yeah."

"I'm so sorry, but I really need to pack for tomorrow…I haven't even started. Maybe when we get back from Norway?"

Smiling Rizzo nodded again, "Yeah…I understand. I need to pack too…after Norway sounds…great." He paused and his smiled widened, "See you tomorrow."

As he turned around to go back to the rink Natalie quietly groaned, she had an idea of what she just did but no idea of what she was getting into. She knew that she had feelings for someone on the team and she was pretty certain who, but her agreeing to Rizzo's apparent date made her start questioning who she was feeling what for.


	8. Fair

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers: Same as Chapter 1_

_Neonnbible__: Thanks for the second review, I hope you keep reading!_

_Meadow567: __As__ you read this chapter, you'll see that I address your comment. I've been working on this chapter for a few days so I was amused when I read your review. But, I did take your comment to heart and re-wrote the ending conversation._

_Song: "Fair" by Remy Zero (One of my favorite bands)_

After a sleepless night, Natalie was hoping to get some sleep during the plane ride to Norway. She boarded the chartered plane and looked at her possible choices for a seat. She scanned who didn't have anyone sitting next to them. She didn't feel like trying to carry a conversation with Robbie or Rizzo at the moment, and she knew that OC would chatter away—not allowing her to sleep. So, Natalie chose to sit next to Coxie, who guaranteed her a peaceful ride that included sleep and intelligent conversation whenever desired. Plus, he didn't seem attracted to her at the moment—thank God.

Natalie was already asleep by the time the plane was taxiing the runway, and when she woke up, all she could see out of her window was pitch black. Looking around, she saw that most everyone was asleep. She tried to go back to sleep, but instead she found herself staring out into the vast black nothing. She was never the kind of girl that defined herself by her current relationship, nor did she ever let a guy turn her into an emotional train wreck. That never happened and Natalie wasn't planning on having it happen now.

Plumping the pillow behind her head, Natalie started to think about how she felt. She felt confused, she was so certain that she liked Robbie but then the addition of the wild-card Rizzo left her mind reeling. Yes, say she likes Robbie—what does she do about Rizzo? He is a great guy, so she doesn't want to hurt him—and rejection usually hurts. But why does she care? She sighed out loud, she cares because he is a nice guy and nice guys aren't that easy to find. Plus, once you hurt a nice guy—they're not usually nice guys anymore and the world needs as many nice guys as possible.

But then, what would she do about Robbie? She liked Robbie, that was for sure and they got along really well. He had such a magnetic personality and Natalie loved spending time with him—she looked forward to spending time with him. Robbie had been so present since the team was formed.

Present. That was the one word that made all of the difference. Presence. Robbie was so involved in her life, he made his feelings as apparent as possible to Natalie. Rizzo, on the other hand, was just…there. He would make small talk with her, have a dance or two with her when a big group had a night out, but he never seemed to make an effort to make himself as present as possible in Natalie's life. Natalie felt her temper flare up, she suddenly felt angry at Rizzo. If it wasn't for him, she would have no qualms about her feelings for Robbie and she had a hunch that if it wasn't for avoiding to hurt Rizzo's feelings, Robbie would've made a bold move weeks ago.

Natalie blinked hard as she stared out at the black night, this is why her Fall semester of junior year she had her gung-ho feminist period where she fully participated in the idea of women's sexual freedom. She didn't get emotionally attached then, she avoided this kind of angst and pain. But after reflection—that semester was not her happiest, she was pretty much miserable then.

Deciding that distraction would probably be the best thing at the moment, Natalie flicked on the dim reading light above her head and pulled out the newest book she was reading. However, she wasn't half a page into the book when the person in front of her flicked on their light and turned around.

"Hey." It was Rizzo.

Natalie half-smiled, "Hi."

"Can't sleep?"

She partly wanted to say "Just trying to read" so he would leave her alone, but she bit her tongue. The small voice in her head reprimanded her and told her to be nice. Instead she nodded, "Yeah…I thought that maybe a bit of light would help my eyes get tired, but it isn't really working."

Rizzo smiled, "Yeah, I know…Pav keeps snoring every once in a while—right into my ear."

Natalie covered her mouth to silence a laugh, "That's…" She smiled, "That would keep me awake too."

Nodding slowly, Rizzo smiled, "Excited about Norway?"

She shrugged, "I guess so…my image of it is just a lot of snow, but I hope that I am wrong."

Rizzo snickered, "What? No hopes of having a European man sweep you off your feet?"

Natalie shook her head, "Christ no, I'm not one of those girls that gets swoony for an European man that drives…whatever those small motor vehicles are."

"Pity. Bah and most of the guys have their hearts set on scoring with some girls…it's like they think everyone there will be a supermodel or something."

Putting her book back in her bag Natalie smirked, "Well, they'll be disappointed. Not every woman they meet will be 6-foot tall with blonde hair and blue eyes."

Rizzo chuckled, "Sounds like you travel a lot."

"Yeah, I've been to a few places…I'm not like an extensive traveler or something."

"Where have you been?"

"Well…Paris, London, and Hong Kong. My parents live in Hong Kong."

Raising his eyebrows Rizzo asked, "Hong Kong? Really?"

Natalie nodded, "Yeah, my dad is a clothing buyer for Sears. They still have their place in Chicago, but they've been in Hong Kong for about…three years?" What followed was a two-hour conversation with Rizzo where they each learned a lot about each other, although at first glance their lives didn't seem to have much in common—they actually did.

And even though, Natalie landed in Norway still confused about her situation, the anger was lifted. She was determined not to bother herself with either of the boys until she returned to Minnesota.


	9. Stolen

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by: __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers: Same as Chapter 1_

_Author's Note: I've been waiting anxiously to write this chapter and I couldn't wait much longer, I hope you like it and the next few to come. Also, if you are into musicals (like me) and are not bothered by strong language, check out __**Spring Awakening**__ if you haven't already. It's amazing (and just won the TONY for Best Musical)._

_Meadow321: I'm glad that you liked that chapter_

_Vaughnloveralwaysandforev__: Thank you for being such a loyal reader!_

_Song: "Stolen" by Dashboard Confessional (I've been dying to use this song!)_

Norway. Natalie would never forget that week, so much happened—so much that would change everything. Their first day there was memorable enough—just sightseeing and taking in the sights. The game, however, was hell.

During the game, none of the players seemed focused on the game they were playing. Some of the guys were too busy checking out the girls in the stands, others were talking about their upcoming NHL careers that would start after the Olympics. They were lucky to tie the game.

But after the game was much worse. Due to their poor performance during the game, Herb skated the team after the game. He made them do the exercises that the team named "Herbies" over and over and over again. Natalie didn't know what point he was making or what he was trying to do, she started to get frustrated as the team's exhaustion increased and the risk for injury became higher. She glanced at her uncle, hoping he knew what Herb was getting at—but he looked as lost as she did. The lights that lit that stadium were turned off—but Herb still kept telling Coach Patrick to blow the whistle again.

She couldn't take it anymore—she had too many looks from the players. Looks that were begging for an answer from her of why they were being skated so hard. Looks begging for her to somehow put a stop to the constant skating. Shaking her head, Natalie climbed up the stairs and as she reached the concorde, she leaned against a concrete column and slide to the floor. She could still hear the whistles and Herb's "again." Finally she heard a panting voice speak up, "Mike Eruzione, Winthrop, Massachusetts."

Natalie sat up straighter, curious what Rizzo was trying to do. She then heard Herb's low voice, "Who do you play for?"

"I play for…the United States of America."

"That's all gentlemen," said Herb. Natalie sighed with relief, finally—finally they realized that their loyalties weren't to Boston or Minnesota, but to each other—to the nation. She stood up and joined Doc again and to help any players that needed assistance to the locker room. Natalie helped Jim take his pads off before he attempted to skate across the rink to the locker room. He was too tired to thank Natalie, instead he heaved and nodded briefly before using the boards to support him as he made his way off of the ice.

Natalie spent that night in her hotel room, lounging in her bed and watching a few movies with Bill. The whole team was too exhausted to try to go out that evening. They didn't talk about the team, they just silently watched movies and strange television.

The next day, the team boarded the plane to return home, Natalie sat next to Bill and slept the whole flight home. The trip exhausted her emotionally and she was looking forward to being back home in her apartment and in her bed. She stopped caring about her boy problems—she figured that she would let them figure themselves out. The night they returned home, the team decided to go out and invited Natalie to join, which she did. As they started the evening, OC made a toast to the team. Something felt different and as Natalie clinked her glass against Robbie's bottle, she felt that finally the guys were a team, a family.

Natalie didn't remember much of that night, most of the guys got carried away with their quantity of alcohol consumed, and Natalie did as well. As she opened one eye to the rising sun she quietly groaned. It was bright, she had a piercing headache, and her whole body ached all over. She had a hangover. Again. "I am never going to drink again," she thought.

That was until Natalie noticed something, she wasn't at her place. Both of her eyes flew open and she saw that she wasn't in her room and she certainly wasn't in her bed. She quickly yanked the sheets up to her chin and once she saw the person next to her, she wanted to vomit. "I really am never drinking again," she thought. Then Natalie realized that she had to leave as soon as possible, which she quietly did. As she drove home she prayed that he didn't remember the night before and/or that he woke up as she left his room. Practice was not going to be fun that day.

Natalie was walking into the hockey rink as she heard her name called out. It was Robbie. Natalie tried to smile as he approached her, "Hey Nat."

"Hey Robbie."

He shoved his hands into his coat pockets, "Hey, so I was uhh…" he scratched the back of his neck. "To be honest, I don't remember much of last night. I know that I umm…y'know…"

She nodded, "Right…"

Robbie looked sheepish and turned a light shade of pink, "Problem is that Silkie didn't come back to the room last night and since I don't remember much, I was wondering if you remembered who I took home last night."

Natalie felt her stomach bottom out, and without processing a thought, she grabbed his arm and dragged him into the closest broom closet. She pulled on the string to turn on the light and gulped as she looked Robbie in the eye.

"Me."


	10. In the Sun

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by: __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers: Same as Chapter 1_

_**Warning: This chapter has strong adult language.**_

_Thank you to everyone for your review! Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I couldn't resist_

_Song: "In the Sun" by Michael __Stipe__ featuring Chris Martin_

Natalie felt like someone expanded her insides, she felt like she was slowly being suffocated—the air around her became heavy. The lightbulb flickered and she saw Robbie turn from pink, to white, and then back to pink.

"Are…" he gulped, "are you sure?"

She started to tear up and her voice became wavering, "Robbie…" Natalie couldn't blink her tears back fast enough and her vision started to become very cloudy.

"No…Nat…I mean…" He stepped closer to her and gently held her face in his hands, "I didn't mean that." Robbie used his thumb to brush away a tear that was falling down her cheek, "Are you sure that we actually _slept_ together…not just sharing a bed?"

Natalie sniffed and wiped her nose, "All of the tell-tale signs were there Robbie, I don't remember much of last night but I am positive that we slept together. Our clothes were all over that room…and…Jesus…" She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to will herself to stop crying.

Robbie nodded and then held Natalie close, "It's okay..." he whispered into her hair. They stood together, holding each other silently for a minute before he broke the silence. "Umm…Nat?"

She looked up at him and saw that he was pale again, "Yeah?"

He shifted his weight between his feet and started to stroke one of her arms, "I don't think that we…" he cleared his throat. "I, I mean I. I don't think that _I_ used a condom." Robbie gulped, trying to read Natalie's face for a reaction.

"It's okay…"

Robbie smiled for a moment and huffed a short laugh, "I know that you're saying this _now_, but if you end up preg—"

Natalie cut him off, "I'm on the pill. Have been since college."

He nodded, "Okay…" His eyes glanced around the closet before looking back and Natalie, "What do we do now?"

She shrugged, "I don't know." As they stared at each other they slowly got closer again. Finally, Robbie bit the bullet and kissed Natalie. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he set his hands on her hips. Right when Natalie felt herself get into the kiss a door outside of the closet was slammed shut, causing both of them to jump and pull out of the kiss. Then they heard "Woo!! OC is in the house!" and then the noises of conversations starting. They stared at each other again and Natalie was the first to look away, "You probably should go to practice."

"Nat…" he said softly before tucking a few loose strands of hair behind her ear.

"Don't 'Nat' me." She snapped as she brushed his hand away. "You can't do that…I love it when you do that. And when you do that I can't breathe. I can't think."

"But Na—"

"Don't! You don't get it do you? I'm in this…crazy, emotional mess that involves you and Rizzo. And you know, before last night I was fine with letting things just settle down and figure themselves out. But now…" She huffed a laugh, "Now, this got more complicated. And I don't like complicated. You can't have complicated right now. Neither can Rizzo. You two are teammates…on the Olympic team. If I fuck this up I have the whole team on my ass. I can't win."

"Okay…I didn't mean to make this harder for you. Now, I think my feelings for you are pretty apparent, so I won't say anything else about that that subject. But, if you make a decision I'll support it…even if I might not agree with it." He looked at his watch, "I should go change." He kissed her cheek and opened the door, "See you in a bit…Nat."

Natalie clenched her jaw, refusing to look affected, and charged out of the closet. She didn't think about where she was going, her feet seemed to be on auto-pilot. When she was almost to the door, Natalie almost ran into Rizzo.

"Hey Natalie!"

She paused, trying to be polite and courteous, "Hey Rizzo. What's up?"

He scratched the back of his neck, "Are you still up for that dinner sometime?"

Natalie sighed, "Umm…why don't you see what movies are playing tomorrow and pick one for us to go see?"

Rizzo smiled and nodded, "Okay…where are you going? Are you okay?"

She faked a smile, "Fine, I just forgot something in my car…I'll see you at practice." Natalie walked to her car as fast as possible without running. She sat in her car and started to cry again. Leaning her head against her arms that were on the steering wheel she started to whisper to herself, "Moron. You're such a moron. What the hell are you doing? What the fuck are you doing?" She sat up and shook her head, "Jeez…what the fuck are you doing? What the fuck are you doing?!?!" The last sentence she practically yelled. Natalie gripped her steering wheel to prevent herself from beating the crap out of it. A tapping on the window startled her and she screamed before she saw Bill looking at her curiously. Rolling down the window, she wiped away her tears, "Yes?"

"What the hell is going on?" He looked concerned, "What happened last night?"

"You don't want to know, trust me."

Bill raised his eyebrows, "Trust me I do. Now, just tell me."

Natalie slowly blinked, "I slept with Robbie."

He stood straight up and ran his hand through his hair, "Fuck…does Robbie know?" He stared at Natalie, "Does Rizzo know?"

Groaning, she replied, "God I hope not." She inhaled deeply, "Robbie and I have already talked."

"Well, I don't think I can help you out here…" he looked at her, "C'mon…out of the car." Natalie slowly exited the car and after she closed the door he hugged her. "Just…keep your pants on from now on."

Natalie laughed through her drying tears, "I think I can do that."

Bill smiled and looked down at her, "Now, dry your eyes and pretend nothing is wrong. Neither Robbie or Rizzo need to be worried about you being upset."

Nodding, Natalie agreed, "I know…" She took a deep breath, "Let's go inside." As Natalie watched practice she couldn't help but notice how much more confident Robbie seemed compared to Rizzo, especially today. "God do I have a decision to make…" she muttered to herself.


	11. Honestly

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by: __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers: Same as Chapter 1_

_Everyone—thank you for your continued reading and reviewing. I enjoy reading every review and each one inspires and motivates me to continue writing more. I apologize for the long pause between this and the previous chapter—the weather in Houston (where I am currently residing) has been quite stormy and has knocked out my wireless internet.__ However, during my absence I got a bunch of writing done and have figured out where and how our story will end._

_Song: "Honestly" by Cary Brothers_

"It's your choice," said Rizzo after he and Natalie discussed their movie viewing options.

"Hmmm…" Natalie picked at the steering wheel of her car. "You said that a theatre was showing _Animal House_?"

Rizzo nodded, "Yeah…but don't pick it because you think it is guy friendly, I'll see whatever you want to see."

Natalie smiled, "Are you kidding? I love that movie, I saw it three times when it came out last year. I'm excited that a theatre is showing it again."

"Wow…" Rizzo shook his head while smiling, "I didn't think you would like that movie. Well then…let's go."

Natalie enjoyed the comedy with the Raisinettes that Rizzo bought for her. Although it was winter, they decided to take a walk after the movie. Natalie munched on her remaining Raisinettes ad she and Rizzo talked. As they talked about their collegiate lives, Natalie realized that for the past two years she had been perfectly happy being single, why would she change that now? And just because she had to make up her mind regarding two boys, it didn't necessarily mean that she had to say "yes" to one of them.

As they approached the dorms where most of the team was staying, Rizzo turned to Natalie and smiled. "I had a great time and I hope you did too."

Smiling, Natalie adjusted the scarf that was around her neck, "I had fun."

"Maybe we could do it again sometime?" His voice became slightly higher as he asked her the question.

Natalie sighed slightly and chose her words carefully, "Rizzo…you know what situation I am in right now. And you know that I cannot say 'yes' to one of you without saying 'no' to the other. Because you and Robbie are teammates and I don't want to do anything to change the great camaraderie the team has, I can't pick either one of you."

Rizzo shook his head, "Don't make your decision because of the team."

She smiled, "I am making the decision that _I_ want to make. Right now I am happy being single and I don't want to change that. So, I am not saying 'yes' to either of you…I guess you can say that I am turning both of you down."

He nodded and looked up at the sky, "Does Robbie know this yet?"

Shaking her head, Natalie answered, "No, I figured this out during the movie."

Rizzo laughed, "You mean that you found sound reason during _Animal House_?"

Natalie laughed as well, "Yes, that's right…in the middle of the Toga party." They shared a laugh for a few seconds before Natalie continued, "But just because I am not dating anyone right now doesn't mean that we can go see a movie again or something casual like that…we are friends after all I mean, Bill and I go have drinks or something at least once a week."

"Friends…right." He looked around for several seconds before looking back at her, "I think you made the right choice."

"Really? If you hate it, you can say so, I won't hate you."

"Ha ha…I am serious."

"Seriously?" asked Natalie.

"Seriously," he replied with a smile. He gave her a hug, "See you at practice."

"Yeah…I'll go upstairs with you," she said as she gestured towards to building.

Rizzo looked up at the building and then back at Natalie, "What…Why?"

Natalie bit her bottom lip, "I need to talk to Robbie."

"Ooohh…right. Well, let's go inside," he opened the door to the building for her and let her go up the stairs first.

Natalie knocked on Robbie's door, bracing herself—things were slightly awkward between them since the previous day. It felt like both of them didn't know what to do, should they embrace what happened or pretend nothing happened? Robbie opened the door and smiled once he saw Natalie, "Hey Nat…come on in." Natalie smiled and entered his room. She gulped when she saw that Silkie, his roommate, was not there. The door closed and Robbie turned to face her. Natalie felt her throat become sandpaper and her hands become clammy. Rizzo was a nice guy and all, but it was Robbie that had an effect on her.

She opened her mouth to begin the speech she had planned to say, but before she could get a word out, Robbie kissed her. Immediately she kissed him back as if it were a reflex, but after a few moments she backed away, "Robbie…we can't."

"What…why…" First he looked confused, then a look of recognition crossed his face. "You chose him."

Natalie shook her head, "No…I didn't."

"Then what is it?"

She braced herself, trying to look at everything in the room except him, but she still found herself looking at him every five seconds. "I am single and am staying single." Natalie took a deep breath, "I have been happily single for two years and I intend to stay that way for a while. To choose either one of you would split the team back into separate camps and I cannot do that to you, Rizzo, Herb, or anyone else on the team. I am such an insignificant person to ruin what you guys have."

Robbie's face softened, "Nat…you are not insignificant."

Natalie tried to ignore his comment or let it affect her, "And I expect you to follow through on your promise and support my decision."

"Of course."

"That means whenever we go out somewhere you can't act the way you have been recently, you can't get angry whenever Rizzo and I do something because we're doing something as just friends—like we will be doing. And you really need to stop calling me Nat."

Robbie ran his hand through his hair, "No."

"What?"

"I am going to keep calling you Nat."

Natalie huffed, "Robbie…"

"No, I am keeping this. I care about you Nat…a lot. And no one here calls you 'Nat' except for maybe Baker once or twice, but I call you 'Nat.' I understand that you don't want me to be as affectionate as I might want to be, but I get to keep this. I get to keep my term of endearment for you." He noticed that Natalie was about to argue him and he interrupted before she could say anything, "If you notice, you are the only one who calls me Robbie…everyone else calls me 'Mac.' And to be honest, I like you calling me Robbie and I want you to continue doing so, therefore I get to continue calling you 'Nat.'" He smiled, "And I swear to God, you better not try to be all egalitarian and make Rizzo call you that as well."

Natalie smiled, "Okay…"

"Okay? No counter-argument?" asked Robbie, poking at her side.

She giggled, "I need to go home."

"Alright, see you in the morning." He gave her a hug and opened the door for her, "And just so you know…I don't mind waiting."

Natalie paused and turned around, "What do you mean?"

Robbie smiled, "Think about it," he said before closing his door.

As she drove home and entered her empty apartment, Natalie came to the realization that being single was severely overrated


	12. Fix You

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers: Same as Chapter 1_

_Song: "Fix You" by Coldplay_

_Aaah__! During my massive writing session I made a huge anachronism, and thankfully meadow567 caught it (Thank you). I apologize for this and I am in the midst of rewriting and reworking parts of the story, you'll see the chapter I named "We're __All__ in the Dance" later._

Natalie felt the Olympics looming—like an annoying person breathing down your neck as the read from behind you. She felt the pressure and if she felt pressured, she couldn't imagine how the team felt. Each member was also high strung—the team was down to 21 players and each person felt as if any day could be the one where Herb cuts them.

Herb asked Natalie to arrive at practice earlier than usual. She entered his office, "Good morning…you wanted me to come in early?"

He tossed his reading glasses to the side, "Yes, I did." Herb folded his hands together and looked at Natalie, "Say I were to add a new player to the team…how do you think it would affect the current team?"

Natalie was taken back, she was flabbergasted at the thought that Herb would be audacious enough to add a new player to the roster. She cleared her throat and tried to make sense of what she just heard, "Who…who did you have in mind?"

Herb shook his head, "This is just purely…hypothetical."

She glanced around the room, gathering her thoughts before she spoke. "I think…that the chemistry could change, and not in a beneficiary way. The players could become sour towards you and it could possibly tarnish the opinion they have of you."

"I don't care what they think about me, you know that Natalie."

Natalie looked Herb in the eye, "You would once it affects their playing."

He shook his head, "They're already playing like crap…"

"And you want to motivate them by scaring the crap out of them?"

Herb shrugged, "Something of the like."

Natalie shook her head, "Well, it sounds like you already have your mind made up about this…"

"I just wanted a second opinion."

She turned to leave, "Alright." Once the office door was shut behind her, Natalie sighed loudly. Judging by her conversation with Herb, something big was going to happen. And that something was in no way going to be enjoyable to bear or watch the boys bear. However, that thing came that very morning. Natalie was watching the team stretch before practice officially began and that's when she saw the new player. "Oh shit…" she muttered as she witnessed each member of the team see the new guy and become agitated.

Practice was painful as Herb flaunted the supposedly fantastic season that Timmy (the new player) was having at Minnesota and the struggling guys became even more scared and concerned about their standing on the team. First one guy was going to get cut, but now there would be a second. After Herb blew the final whistle and dismissed the team, Robbie skated up to Natalie. "Did you know about this?

Natalie knew that she couldn't lie to him, "Sort of. Herb talked to me this morning, asking me what I thought would happen if he added a new player."

"Did he tell you why he was doing this?"

She straightened her posture, "In his way…yeah."

Robbie's eyes narrowed, "Why is he doing this?"

Natalie looked him evenly in the eye, "Me telling you would defeat his purpose."

He nodded, "Right…okay…see you later." Robbie smiled and skated off. The next week Natalie had many of the guys approach her, asking why Timmy was there, but each time she refused to give them Herb's reasoning. Sometimes when she was watching Rizzo struggle during practice she wanted to do something, but she didn't know what. He was one of the few that quickly picked up on Timmy's purpose and he tried to improve his skill and show his worth to the team. However, Herb seemed to not notice Rizzo's attempts or intentionally looked over them. Either way, Rizzo's confidence was faltering and Natalie had a sinking feeling that he would be one of the guys cut if something didn't happen.

She remembered a slight blurb that she read in a magazine, supposedly a man's self-confidence was as its highest during a romantic relationship. Although she strictly maintained a purely platonic relationship (on her side anyway) and made sure that Rizzo knew her intentions, Natalie started a plan in her head. "I can't believe I am thinking what I am thinking…" she muttered to herself as she approached Rizzo after practice.

After dinner and a movie, Natalie found herself in Rizzo's room with his roommate gone for the night. Their conversation was enjoyable as usual, and Natalie had one final inner debate with herself. "Just do it…bite the bullet. This will help him, it will be good for him…" She cut him off as he was in the middle of a word with a kiss. He kissed her back for a minute before slightly pulling back, "Hey…what happened to us just being friends?"

Natalie smiled, "What? Are you complaining about me kissing you?"

He smiled back and shook his head, "No…not really." What followed was a heavy make-out session and by the time where Natalie left to return to her place, she knew that Rizzo was a lot happier—but the voice in her head kept yelling at her, telling her how incredibly stupid she was being and that this act better pay off and not screw anything up.


	13. Signal Fire

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers: Same as Chapter 1_

_Warning: Slight use of strong language (the "f-word" appears once) and there are, as the movie industry phrases it, adult themes._

_Thank you everyone for you reviews!_

_Song: "Signal Fire" by Snow Patrol_

Natalie wasn't very happy with herself, usually she liked to keep her word and normally would do everything in her power to do so. However, although this might be classified as a "special circumstance," she still did not like that she was intentionally leading on two guys—one of whom she cared for very much and the other was a great guy that she wished she could just be good friends with.

She had been on a few outings with Rizzo that could be classified as "dates," but to Natalie's frustration the new confidence that he gained was not translated on the ice. He was still struggling during practice and during games, and Natalie was not the only one to notice—Herb did as well. In fact, Herb kept shoving Tim's successes in Rizzo's face.

Natalie thought that she was doing a pretty good job at hiding her con, but Bill seemed to catch on that something wasn't right. Before practice one day, he approached Natalie, "Something is up between you and Rizzo. Tell."

Her mind went reeling, "No…nothing is going on."

"Look Natalie, I wasn't born yesterday and I know you better than you think." He looked at his watch, "We don't have much time until the rest of the team shows up so why don't you tell me what the hell is going on."

She gulped, "Well…you know how he's been not doing that well in practice and stuff…"

"Uh huh." Bill looked menacing with his arms crossed, just like an older brother who did not approve of his younger sister would look like.

Her voice became higher and slightly squeaky, it always did that each time she was admitting to doing something that she didn't agree with, "And I remember reading that a man's self-esteem is higher while in a romantic relationship."

"Oh my God…Natalie! He isn't a psych experiment! He's a _person._"

"I know…I know. Trust me I know."

"Then what the _hell_ are you doing with him?"

Natalie lost her temper, "I don't know!" She threw her hands up in the air, "I don't know what the hell I am doing. I thought that this would help him, but guess what—it isn't and it will bite me in the ass if it hasn't already."

Bill started to pace, "I hope that Robbie does not catch on…this will piss him off. And I know that you like him." He paused, "You do realize that this can screw up any potential you two had?"

She groaned, "Don't remind me…"

"Well…I don't know what to say except that you are without a doubt, totally f—"

"Fucked. Yeah…I know."

Practice was less than enjoyable as well, Natalie spent most of it wallowing in her self-suffering. And after practice she thought it couldn't get worse…but it did. Bill was not the only one to notice that her relationship with Rizzo was different. For some unknown reason, there were several injuries and other ailments that had to be looked at that day so after practice Doc came up to her. "Natalia, if you are not too busy can you please help me with Mac?"

Natalie immediately stood up, "Yeah, what's wrong?" She followed him to one of the private rooms that were used for medical treatment, special one-on-one training, or whatever else was needed.

Doc paused in front of the door, "It is nothing too serious, just some serious muscular contortions, or knots, in his back. I would help him but I have several boys to look at and this could take a while…"

She nodded and gulped, "Yeah…I'll uhh…help."

"Thank you Natalia." He kissed her cheek and called out as he walked towards the locker room, "Take your time—Herb wants him in good form to start the NHL game!"

Natalie took a deep breath and opened the door and entered the room to see Robbie sitting on the padded table waiting for her, not to mention that he was shirtless and appeared to be drenched in sweat. She tried not to appear affected or nervous, so she feebly smiled and tried to crack a joke, "Christ Robbie, you could've showered before I have to touch you…"

He grinned and rolled his eyes, "I've been sitting in a whirlpool for 45 minutes. Doc says that you need to massage the knots out?"

Her smiled faltered and she knew it, "Uh huh…yep."

"Cool…let's get it over with." He laid down on the table, face down. Natalie wiped off her clammy hands before she started to rub his back. She could feel the sexual tension between them and what drove her even crazier was that Robbie was so nonchalant about it.

The next few minutes were silent, Natalie focused all of her energy in rubbing Robbie's back and trying not to say or do anything that she would regret. However, he was the one to break the silence. "I can't help but ask… what is going on between you and Rizzo?"

Natalie felt her stomach plummet to the floor, "What do you mean?"

"What is going on? Something is different between you two."

"I..uhh…what do you mean by different?"

Robbie sat up so he could look her in the eye, "You chose him?" His tone wasn't angry nor sad…it was more shocked if anything.

"No!" She cleared her throat, "It's not like that at all…"

"No, I think it is…" He shook his head, "Why him Nat? You can be honest, really."

"Robbie…"

"No, don't say it…don't try to flatter me so I don't feel bad."

Natalie paused before speaking, "He just needs me more right now."

That comment set him off, Natalie could feel it before he said anything. " He needs you more? What about what I need? What about me?"

"This isn't about you."

"Yeah, I caught onto that Nat, I caught onto that quickly. What does he even _know_ about you?"

"He knows some things."

"Like what?" Robbie stood up, "He doesn't know that you can spend all day reading a book or that you hate cats because of way they glare at you. Or that whenever you get scared during a movie you start to tap your fingers on the arm rest." He took a deep breath, "And he doesn't know that your eyes are honey…not light brown. Or that the reason you hate tequila is because of that two-day hangover you had back in college." His tone softened, "He doesn't know you the way I know you…I know you, I know what you need and what makes you happy." Robbie stared at her, "And he doesn't love you."

Natalie scoffed, "Like you do?" He didn't say anything but continued to stare at her. "Oh…Robbie…you don't…"

"What?"

She started to shift her weight around on her feet, "You don't…_love_ me…you can't."

He huffed, "Fine…maybe this thing that I am feeling isn't love. I might think that it is, but let's say it isn't. Either way, he doesn't feel this way about you Nat. I've known you for years. Years and years. We've gone through the whole collegiate experience of becoming who we are and shit. I know you and you know me. We have this weird thing where we just…get each other, we don't have to say much to understand each other."

She started to blink back tears, "Robbie…"

"Just…please rethink this Nat. Please."

"It's just so…"

"What? What is it? Complicated? How can it be complicated?" He paused and then he looked scared, "You two haven't done…anything, have you?"

"What…oh! Robbie! No…we've done nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Well, we've kissed, but that doesn't mean anyth—" Robbie cut her off and kissed her. She couldn't help herself and kissed back. It felt right, so right. Kissing Rizzo felt like a chore, something that she had to do but Robbie was a totally different story. She wanted to kiss him and enjoyed everything about it. Natalie got so distracted by his kissing that she didn't notice that her back was against the wall and didn't realize that he turned the lights out until she heard the door lock and felt the buttons of her sweater being undone.


	14. Love Song

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by: __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers: Same as Chapter 1_

_Warning: Another language warning, no one has complained yet but __the language__ will be tamer in following chapters._

_Thanks for the reviews and thank you for continuing to read my __story,__ I was scared that all of the drama would drive some people away._

_Song: "Love Song" by Sara __Bareilles__ (I adore this song and have had it on repeat for days—seriously, check it out)_

"Oh my God," Natalie muttered as she pulled her now slightly-sweaty hair back into a ponytail. She was in shock about the action she had just committed, and if she wasn't screwed earlier she definitely was now. "Oh my God…what just happened?"

Robbie smirked, "I didn't think you had to be told Nat.

She snapped at him, "Don't try to be clever—it isn't funny. I am serious…this isn't good. What am I going to do?"

He saw her concerned face, "Oh…um…I didn't think that far actually."

"Well I can't say that I'm not surprised."

"Hey!" He pointed a finger at her, "Be nice. Okay…well…Baker seems to have this creepy sixth sense about any time you do something with me that is related to any kind of 'feelings.' So let's assume he knows. Fine, he won't say anything."

Natalie snorted, "Yeah, to anyone else. I get to deal with him…but what am I going to do about Rizzo? This is going to kill him."

"And you dating him even though you feel nothing for him won't?"

She sighed, "Yeah…I know. But now adding this and our previous actions…"

"I know, I know. Just…" He ran a hand through his hair, "I don't know…you know that he'll eventually find out about all of this right?"

"Yeah…oh no."

"What?"

Natalie looked at him, "How are we going to get out of here without people seeing us? I mean…look at me!"

Robbie smiled, "You're beautiful."

"Shut up. My clothes are disheveled and they weren't earlier, my hair is a mess and it wasn't earlier, and I am all sweaty…and I wasn't earlier. Plus, you're less than fully-dressed as is."

He chuckled, "Nat…"

"I'm serious Robbie."

"I know, but listen…" he paused, "You hear that? The zamboni? He doesn't clean up the ice until the locker room is empty. We're fine."

"You better be right…" Natalie opened the door and exited. She knew that she had to talk to Rizzo, but she wasn't sure if she had the strength to tell him everything. The drive over felt like eternity and Natalie had to countdown to five in order to will herself to knock on the door.

Rizzo opened the door, "Hey Natalie…come on in?" He backed up to give Natalie space to walk in and as she passed him he asked, "Did you have a meeting with Herb or something?"

She looked at him, "What?"

"Well you said that you would come over after practice, and practice was over an hour and a half ago."

Natalie bit her lip, "Oh, well…sort of. I did my usual daily check-in with Herb and we talked a little bit."

Rizzo sat on the edge of his bed, "Any other new players he plans on adding to the roster?" He glanced at the TV and then back at her, "Talking to Herb took that long?"

She shook her head and sat next to him, "No more new players. And Doc also needed me to help him with some of the guys."

"Everyone alright?"

"Yeah, everyone is taken care of…Robbie had a lot of knots in his back."

Rizzo looked from the TV to Natalie and then back to the TV, "Robbie? Really?"

Natalie nodded, "Yeah…"

He opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but then closed it before opening it again and asking, "Did you tell Robbie about Tim Harrer before he showed up?"

"What?" She was slightly shocked, she thought that she made it explicitly clear to the entire team that she knew nothing about Herb's plans.

"You heard me…you two are always…I don't know. It just always feels like there is something between you two all the time, you are always talking to him and laughing…and…"

"Christ Rizzo, he's a good friend of mine. That's what friends do, talk and laugh and hang out and…"

"That's not my point. I know that you and Baker are like brother and sister…whatever, I understand that. And I know that you are close to Robbie as well, but you two don't act like you and Baker do, it's…different."

Natalie shook her head, "And what's your point?"

Rizzo sighed, "My point is that…maybe I am just a jealous ass, but I have this hunch…this feeling that you would tell Robbie something like this whole Tim thing in advance and not tell me."

She felt a pang of guilt for a second, he had a right to be jealous and although Rizzo might not know it, Natalie sure did. But that guilt was quickly replaced with anger, here she was—trying to be in a relationship with someone that she wasn't interested in so hopefully she could bolster confidence within him so he could stay on the team, and he thought that she wasn't on his side.

"What the hell?!? I swear Rizzo, I've sworn up and down on every damn deity in existence that I had _no idea_ that Herb was going to bring Tim in until thirty minutes before that practice started. And even then I was still unsure what Herb was really going to do until Tim skated in. You make this sound like I am working against you. I'm on your side damnit, and I wouldn't be dating you if I didn't think it could help you again some goddamn confidence."

"Oh crap," Natalie thought, "You just blew it."

Rizzo's voice became scarily calm and level, "You what?"

"I…I…" Natalie tried to form sentences in her head but nothing that would be a plausible defense was forming. "Herb brought Tim to the team with a specific purpose in mind."

"Yeah, to improve the team and don't change the subject."

"No Rizzo—this is the subject. And you are wrong. The entire team had been very...lax recently and Herb wanted to light a fire under your asses."

"Yeah, well we're all trying to play better so we don't get cut."

"That's not the point!" Natalie paused, she was almost yelling. "Fine, maybe that's part of his reasoning…but it isn't all of it. Sure everyone is trying to step up their game so they don't get cut, but just _think_ about it Rizzo. Think."

"Don't talk down to me."

"I apologize, that was not my intention. Herb brought Tim, yes to scare you into playing a better game, but for a few other reasons. He wants a confident team Rizzo, the guys that aren't facing the dangers of being cut are the ones who have enough confidence to know that they will still be around—the ones who know 'Yeah, Herb brought in a new player…but I made it through tryouts and months of training. I'm too good to leave.'"

Rizzo shrugged, "And your point?"

"Stand up for yourself Rizzo, don't accept that Tim could take your spot on the roster. You've earned this spot, you deserve this spot, and no one else can have your spot except you. He doesn't belong here, he hasn't paid his dues, and he sure as hell isn't part of the family that you guys have become. You know it and Herb knows it…he is just waiting for someone to stand up and tell him that they're not putting up with this crap."

He shook his head, "And how does this relate to you dating me…to help me?"

Natalie sighed and braced herself, "I read in a psych magazine that men have greater confidence when in the midst of a romantic relationship."

"What? So I am just some psych project to you?"

"No! I just…I knew that you liked me as more than a friend and so I thought that if I pre…" she corrected herself, "If I dated you that you would become more confident and this would be easier for you to deal with." She fidgeted with the sleeves of her sweater, "You are a great guy Rizzo and a great hockey player, I don't want to see you get cut because you deserve this. You have so much potential that I don't think you realize…and more than anything I want to see you realize that potential." Natalie took a deep breath, "So that's why I agreed to go out with you."

Rizzo nodded, "Thanks…" He looked at her, "So you don't like me in that kind of…way?"

She shook her head, "No…and I am sorry that I don't because like I said…you are a really great guy. And I really do mean that."

He huffed a silent chuckle for a moment, "Yeah…well…it was nice when it lasted." He had a few moments of silent thought before speaking again, "And I think as a 'nice guy' I should let you go. You deserve to be happy Natalie, and I guess that I can't do that."

Natalie slowly nodded, "Yeah…thanks."

"No…" Rizzo slightly smiled, "Thank you for trying to help and for the…illumination." He hugged her, "See you tomorrow."

She nodded, "Yeah…" Natalie walked down the hall and she paused in front of Robbie's door, tempted to knock and…well, she didn't know what. However, she lowered the hand that was ready to knock and walked down the hall.


	15. We're All in the Dance

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers: Same as Chapter 1_

_Song: "We're __All__ in the Dance" by __Feist_

Christmas came and Natalie felt like it was the loneliest Christmas to date. She was used to her parents not being there, she normally spent Christmas morning with Doc and Aunt Velpa. However, she wanted her mom to be with her—a strong and sane post in her life.

That Christmas Eve, Doc and Velpa hosted a party for the team. Natalie had to work that afternoon and early evening so she arrived to the party late. She was greeted with a loud "Natalie!" from all of the guys as she walked through the door. Smiling, she greeted them back and sat between Bill and Robbie. They were in the middle of giving each other their Secret Santa gag gifts and she saw that the guys were very creative with their gifts. OC stood up, his turn to give a gift.

He cleared his throat, "Natalie…this is for you." Natalie cautiously stood up and accepted the gift from OC. "Thanks…" she opened the bag to see a stethoscope and two bottles of beer. Laughing, she held them up to the team and read the card out loud, "Natalie…for the two things you know best, but please don't combine them." She placed the gifts back in the bag and shook her head, "You guys…" She paused and looked at the carpet before smiling back at them, "Thank you." Natalie took a deep breath to bring to an end her laughter, "Robbie, please toss me the gift I brought." She caught the soft, round package that she was to give, "Thanks." Natalie stood straighter and cleared her throat, "Now, I feel that this gift needs no explanation. So…Christian…this is for you."

She tossed him the wrapped gift and the room erupted into laughter after he opened it to see a clown wig. "Thanks Natalie!" He immediately donned the wig and wore it for the rest of the night.

The rest of the party was fun, it helped Natalie temporarily forget her loneliness. After Herb and Craig received their gifts, they both left to go home and the boys decided to play a game of football outside. They invited Natalie to join them, but instead she helped Velpa with the dishes and watched the game through the kitchen window. The dishes were done and Natalie bid Doc and Velpa a good evening and promised that she would show up bright and early for breakfast in the morning. She bundled up in her winter garb and watched the game for a few moments before walking to her car. "Merry Christmas guys!"

They waved and a few chimed in "Merry Christmas Natalie!" before Natalie pulled out of the driveway. Once she got home, she made herself a mug of hot Earl Grey tea, changed into a pair of comfortable pajamas and curled in a chair in front of her television, which was showing _White Christmas_. During a commercial break, Natalie glanced over at her small tree that was decorated the week prior—although she loaded it with ornaments and lights, it still looked tiny and scrawny. She hoped it would be like Charlie Brown's tree…sad without the decoration and glitz, but beautiful with. Sadly—her tree still looked like it was drooping. Natalie continued to watch the movie and every so often she heard her neighbors pass by, going to and coming from parties.

When she heard a group singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" Natalie thought nothing of it until she heard it go on into the second verse and it sounded like it was being sung right in front of her door. She slipped on her slippers and opened her door to either pay off the carolers or tell her neighbors to make their holiday celebrations slightly quieter so she could sleep. But neither was the case—when she opened the door Natalie saw at least half of the team in front of her apartment, singing Christmas carols.

They ended their song and Natalie smiled, "You guys…" She looked down the walkway and saw several of her neighbors with their heads poking out from their doors to see who was making the ruckus. "Come on in…" She happily shook her head as each guy passed by her as they walked into her apartment. After she closed the door, Natalie looked at her full apartment, "Is this the after party?" Before anyone gave her an answer, she giggled slightly. "I'll put a pot of water on for hot chocolate." She made her way into her kitchen to ready a few things, "And I think I might have some eggnog in the fridge…"

Soon, her apartment was noisy as her neighbor's had been earlier that night and the entire content of her kitchen had been consumed. Natalie was able to escape for a few minutes to change out of her pajamas and back into the clothes she was wearing earlier. After half an hour, the team started to slowly trickle out and before too long, it was just Bill and Robbie left. Bill and Natalie exchanged gifts, they gave each other their traditional exchange of books that they thought the other would enjoy, and after that Bill left Robbie and Natalie alone, but not before he hugged Natalie and reminded her to "be good."

Natalie looked at the mess her apartment had become and threw herself on the couch next to Robbie. "This place is a pigsty now…"

Robbie chuckled, "It's not that bad…you should see OC's room."

Laughing, she shook her head, "His room is just plain gross." Natalie looked up at him, "I have a gift for you, but don't worry if you don't have one for me…I am not expecting one in return or anyth—"

"Nat, you know that I have a gift for you." He stood up and retrieved a wrapped box from the kitchen, "Merry Christmas Nat."

Natalie opened the gift to see a simple, yet beautiful, black sweater. She petted the fabric and smiled, "It's...beautiful." Looking back at him she smiled, "Thank you." Natalie got up and went to her room and came back with his gift. "Here you go…I made it myself."

Robbie unwrapped the plush scarf that Natalie knit for him, "I love it…thanks Nat." He kissed her cheek and wrapped the scarf around his neck before leaning back and wrapping his arm behind her. "Now what?"

She laughed, "I don't know…" Yawning, she stretched out her arms, "I have to get up early for breakfast and Christmas morning with Doc and Velpa…"

"Is that a hint for me to leave?"

Looking at him, Natalie smiled, "No, but you can if you want."

Robbie chuckled and stood up, "I should probably go…I have an early morning as well. Y'know, Christmas with the parents and the sisters and the in-laws…"

Natalie stood up with him and opened the door, "I forgot how busy your place is at Christmas…"

He paused, "You should come have dinner with us."

She bit her bottom lip, "Robbie….I'd love to, but I can't."

"Come on Nat, you had Christmas dinner with us last year."

Natalie shook her head, "I can't. Really. Craig invited Doc, Velpa, and me to his family's dinner."

"Okay…see you in a few days." He hugged her, "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas."


	16. I Wish You Love

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers: Same as Chapter 1_

_Thank you __vaughnloveralwaysandforev__ and __neonnbible__ for the reviews/messages—they really help in keeping me writing!_

_Song: "I Wish You Love" by Rachel Yamagata_

Natalie was one who never liked New Year's resolutions, she had the mindset that if she needed to fix something or change something—she should start immediately, not wait until the New Year. Plus, she rarely saw the need for resolutions.

New Year's Eve came and most of the team would be at some party together, they invited Natalie to join them but she had not decided whether she would go or not yet. Practice went well, the team became even closer since Herb sent Tim packing. After practice, Rizzo walked up to her, "Hey Natalie…can we talk?"

She nodded, things appeared to be fine between them, but Natalie was waiting for something to surface, "Yeah."

He motioned towards an area away from the other guys, "I just…I just wanted to talk to you."

"Yeah…what's up?"

"I have just been thinking about…us. And why did you do what you did?"

Natalie gulped, "You mean why I decided to date you?" He nodded and she took a deep breath, "I like you Rizzo, I really do. You are one of my favorite guys on this team, you are an anchor for this team." She glanced at her feet and then looked back at him, "And then Herb brought in a new player and started to give you a really hard time. I put the pieces together and was scared that Herb would cut you and give Tim your spot."

Rizzo shook his head, "Why didn't you just talk to Herb?"

Natalie huffed a laugh, "You know just as well as I do that I could talk to Herb as much as I want, but I might as well be chatting with a brick wall."

"True. Go on."

"So…I got scared, and I remember reading that relationships increase confidence and that's what I thought you needed in order to stay on the team. Plus, having confidence would make dealing with the situation easier anyways."

"So then you decided to pretend to date me."

"Well don't say it like that…"

He shook his head, "No…you did. You don't feel for me in that kind of way, but you made me think you did. What did you think would happen Natalie? What was your plan? Were you going to keep on with the charade until after the Olympics and then 'pretend' to break-up with me?"

Natalie started to trip over her words, "I…I don't know. I didn't think."

"Yeah, well that part is obvious." She looked at him, obviously hurt, but Natalie knew that she couldn't say anything or defend herself—this was her punishment for what she did. "What do you expect to happen now? How am I supposed to have confidence after I find out that you don't even like me but instead see me as someone weak enough that you make a charity case out of me? That's one hell of a confidence boost right there Natalie."

"I'm sorry Rizzo…I am so sorry."

"What are you going to do now? Go to Robbie? Date the guy that you really like?"

"No…"

"Why?"

Natalie's voice became quiet, "Because it wouldn't feel right now."

"Because of me?" His stare was becoming scarily icy and cold.

"No…well...sort of. There are a lot of reasons."

He scoffed, "Would I even want to know those reasons?"

She shook her head, "No."

"Yeah, I didn't think so."

"Rizzo," she took a deep breath, "I know that you are furious with me right now and you have every right to be right now. I am so sorry for what I did, it was wrong on so many levels and I need to be able to forgive myself for what I did too. I am in no way proud of my actions for the past few months." She paused and collected her thoughts, "And please…please don't hate me too much to try to fix us and maybe after everything is settled we can still be friends."

"Natalie…I don't know…I…" he sighed, "We'll try, okay? We'll try." He nodded to himself, "It will take some time, but we'll be alright."

"Good."

He slightly smiled, "This is me, trying to move on from this hellish situation, okay? Let's go get a beer or something."

Natalie smiled and shook her head, "Maybe another day, I just need to be by myself right now."

"Okay…I understand."

She slightly smiled and turned away from him, making her way out towards her car. All she wanted at the moment was to be alone, but it seemed like no one was going to let it happen. "Hey…Nat!" It was Robbie.

Natalie stopped walking and turned around, "Hey yourself."

"We need to talk."

She nodded, "Yeah…I know." Natalie glanced at her car, "Want a ride home?"

He nodded, "Sure." They got in Natalie's car and as soon as she started the car, he started. "What's going on between us?"

Natalie waited to answer until she backed out of her parking spot, "What do you mean?"

"You know perfectly well what I mean. Ever since that afternoon, there's been this strange tension between us."

"That's called sexual tension Robbie, it occurs between two people who like each other that are not together. And you should already be used to it, it's been between us for a few months now."

"I'm not talking about that, what I am talking about is this wall I feel you building between us and I want to know you are doing this. I like you Nat, I really do."

She glanced at him before looking back at the road, "Do you love me?"

He smiled, "Is this all about what I said earlier?"

"Well do you?"

"I don't know…" he shrugged, "Maybe?"

Natalie concentrated on driving, "Robbie…I…"

He interrupted her, "You don't have to say anything right now. I'm unsure what my feelings are and it is more than okay for you to be too."

She shook her head, "I just….I can't do this right now. Starting a relationship right after me and Rizzo…whatever we had…it just wouldn't be right." She pulled up to his building, "I'm sorry Robbie, I think the best thing I can say right now is wait. But I'm not even sure if your wait would end."

"Nat…"

"Please, _please_ stop calling me that."

Robbie shook his head and smiled, "You will always be Nat to me."

She smiled looked away from him, she felt her face flush and she knew her face was a dark shade of pink. "Just get out of the car." Natalie lost control of her giggles and a few came out.

Robbie smiled in return and kissed her cheek, "See you at the party tonight?"

Natalie thought it over, "Sure…why not."

"Great, see you there then."

As Natalie drove home, she made a stop at her former college advisor's office. At home she began to fill out the multiple applications she had just picked up and started to fulfill her New Year's resolution—to start over.


	17. Heartbeats

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers: Same as Chapter 1_

_Xcapitalbarbie90: Thank you so much for your review! It was a great thing to get in my inbox after a long day of work!_

_Vaughnloveralwaysandforev__: Ha __ha__, you'll see what her applications were for and I have a feeling that you won't like it. And I want you to update your story!_

_Neonnbible__: I got the review—__yay__! I think that we have very similar music taste, please send me any song suggestions—I need to "discover" some new artists this summer._

_Everyone, I apologize for the delay of updates. Although I know where this story is going, I still hit a brick wall with this chapter. I am sorry if it isn't the best chapter, but it is needed to get and keep the story moving. I swear that I must have deleted like 5 pages of work before I wrote this…_

_Song: "Heartbeats" by J__ose Gonzalez. Check out the Sony__Bravia__ commercial that used this song My Creative Advertising __prof__ showed this in class and I just loved it…_

Natalie arrived at the party an hour later she was expected to appear. Although she was a stickler for being on-time or early to everything, parties were always the exception. The hostess of the party was a former classmate of hers that she hadn't seen in at least a year, Natalie felt awkward showing up uninvited but a few of the guys persuaded her to go and reassured her that the hostess wanted everyone she invited to invite more people in order to guarantee a packed house.

Well, a packed house is what the hostess got. It took Natalie a few minutes to see the group of guys and a few more minutes to get to them. "Hey guys," she said, greeting them as she walked up.

"Natalie!" exclaimed OC, he handed her a shot in one hand and a red plastic cup filled with liquor in the other, "You have lots of catching up to do!"

She smiled and took the shot before saying, "I can see that." Natalie hugged Bill with her free arm and gave Robbie a slight nod of acknowledgement before asking, "So, as I walked in I saw Rizzo chatting with some girl…who is she?"

OC smirked, "Jealous?" Natalie shook her head and he continued, "Some chick who goes to school here, she's about to graduate. What's her name??"

Natalie laughed, "I was hoping you knew."

Robbie spoke up, "Katherine. I had a class with her last year. She seemed nice, just quiet."

OC continued to smirk and draped an arm around Robbie, "You're not into the quiet types Mac?" He chuckled, "What about Natalie here?" He gestured to Natalie with his beer bottle, "She's not quiet…but not loud either…what is she?"

Robbie didn't speak for a bit, he was staring at Natalie and she was staring back. Bill had a confused look on his face and cleared his throat, his sign for signaling that he was about to interject, but Robbie beat him to it. "Natalie is…Natalie. She's unique."

A blush covered Natalie's cheeks as she looked towards the floor and OC laughed, "Well of course she's Natalie…she's Natalie!" He shook his head and wandered off to a few other players who were hanging out in the kitchen.

Bill looked between Natalie and Robbie a few times before attempting to subtly join OC and the other guys in the kitchen. Robbie spoke first, "Nat, how long are we going to play this game? C'mon, it's New Year's Eve and I would like to celebrate this with you…as more than just a friend."

Natalie thought about it for a second, "If I give you this one night, will you please give me some space?"

Robbie immediately nodded, "Definitely."

She smiled, "Alright then…just for tonight we are together."

He beamed and immediately wrapped his arm around her waist, "Now…how many people can I show you off to in one evening?"

Natalie giggled and let Robbie guide her around the party. His arm never left her waist the entire evening and Natalie secretly loved it. She loved being so close to Robbie, with him smiling down at her every so often, and the random kisses either on her cheek or forehead that he gave her. This preview to what a relationship with Robbie would be like thrilled Natalie, but it also made everything that much harder. As much as Natalie loved being with Robbie as a couple, she knew that it would stop the next morning—and she would be the one that would have to enforce it.

Their kiss at midnight was nothing like what Natalie expected, because each time they kissed or touched each other before had been in secret or forbidden, there had been this intense passion between them. Instead of a steamy, never-ending kiss between them at midnight—their kiss was softer and sweeter, a lot more like kisses between couples who had been together for a long time.

The next month did not go as smoothly between Natalie and Robbie as New Year's Eve did. They argued several times—Natalie didn't want to rush herself into another relationship even if she liked Robbie, and Robbie was growing impatient and didn't understand Natalie's reasoning. One night, while at Natalie's apartment, they were arguing again.

"I get that you want to wait Nat, but can you at least tell me for how much longer? You're leaving me hanging here."

Natalie sighed, "I don't know Robbie. Just be patient."

"Patient? You are telling me to be patient?" He rolled his eyes, "What are you waiting for Natalie? The Olympics to be over?"

"I don't want to be a distraction," she retorted.

"Nat, trust me—you are more of a distraction not dating me that you would be if we were actually going out. Plus, we have less than two weeks until the Olympics…"

"It isn't worth it." That slipped out of Natalie's mouth before she could stop herself.

"What? I'm not worth it? Is that what you mean?"

"No…that isn't…it's…see…" Natalie started tripping over her words. She took a deep breath and continued, "It's just that we only have a week and a half until the games and after that you'll be playing for the NHL somewhere else…that's all."

He shook his head, "You're lying. I know you Nat, you would've mentioned this long ago and we would've planned around this. What is going on? Do you not like me like that?"

"No! I…"

"C'mon Nat, just say it. Put me out of my misery."

"I'm going to Columbia." It came out sounding like one word and Natalie barely understood herself, so she had no idea if Robbie understood her.


	18. Let Myself Fall

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers: Same as Chapter 1_

_Thank you so much for the reviews! I had a terrible day and it made me feel so much better to read your reviews. Here is an answer to three of your reviews: Yes she can…and she will._

_This chapter is short, but I think it is very sweet. But the next two chapters are going to be fun and very interesting._

_Song: "Let Myself Fall" by Rosie Thomas_

Robbie blinked, "Say that again."

Natalie sighed and closed her eyes as she said, "Columbia. I am going to Columbia."

"On a mission trip thing? How does that affect us Nat?"

She shook her head, "No! Columbia…as in New York. I'm going back to school."

He gulped, "For what? Why?"

"Because I want to…I'm going to get my Master's."

"But…Nat…It's almost February—how are you so sure?"

She stared at him for a moment, "You know me, I just know. Plus, I have the grades, test scores and everything needed for me to get in. And I got a call the other day with a scholarship offer."

Robbie nodded slightly, "Well, I'll be in Buffalo…maybe we can—"

Natalie cut him off, "No Robbie…you'll be busy training and practicing, and I will be busy studying and doing clinicals. You and I both know that it won't work."

He got closer to her and held her face, "I would make it work, I really would Nat. You are more than worth it."

She started to tear up, "Robbie…we can't. I'm trying to do two specialties in two years and you'll be new to the NHL. We won't have the time or energy to visit each other."

"Then please, please give me these few weeks that we have left. Something is better than nothing."

"So what? Be together for less than a month, be in an actual relationship so when it comes time for us to go our separate ways it will be that much harder? This is already going to be hard enough for me Robbie. Saying 'good-bye' to you as you already are is going to be devastating, but saying that to you as my boyfriend?"

"Nat, please? I just need something, that's all. Just…something."

"Robbie…"

"Please?" He kissed her, "Please?" Robbie kissed again and between each kiss he asked her again.

She slightly pulled out of the kisses, "Fine."


	19. Little of Your Time

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers: Same as Chapter 1_

_Neonnbible__: Thanks for another review! My day was much better—I got to have some retail therapy._

_Vaughnloveralwaysandforev__Haha__, thanks for the alternative suggestions. I would like a Robbie as well. It's funny, while watching the movie and etc. my favorite is Rizzo, but there is just something about writing Robbie that I love. I guess I feel more flexible writing his character than the others…_

_Meadow567: Thank you for the review, I'm glad to see that you are still reading__ the story_

_Song: "Little of Your Time" by Maroon 5_

New York City, what a glorious place. Natalie left Minnesota several days before the team arrived so she could look for an apartment and get settled. Herb held a few early morning practices for the guys—but he allowed them most of the days to explore the city. Two nights before their game versus the Soviets, some of the guys and Natalie decided to try to get into Studio 54.

That night Natalie put forth extra effort on her appearance, she knew how hard it would be for her to get in alone—but all of the guys with her? As they were standing in line, Natalie tried to ignore the extra attention some of the guys were giving her. She never had any kind of effect on Bill so he was indifferent, and Robbie treated her like a queen no matter what her appearance was. However—Natalie was surprised when OC started to actually hit on her and Bah started to silently ogle certain parts of her anatomy. And Rizzo…poor guy, he was mildly shocked into silence for about a minute.

Natalie couldn't believe it, but somehow she got in and so did the guys. At first the doorman wasn't about to let all of the guys come with her, but once she whispered in his ear that they were the Olympic hockey team there was no problem.

"Oh wow…." OC grinned as he walked in. He turned to the rest of the group, "Well…see you all later." Quickly, he disappeared into the large crowd—most likely to find alcohol and many single women.

Natalie looked at Robbie, who shrugged, and then around at the other guys. Rizzo, Bah, Johnson, and a few others went off towards the bar as a group—leaving Bill, Robbie, and Natalie behind. Robbie looked towards the balconies, which Natalie knew were famous for the rowdy and usually raunchy rendezvous that took place there. "Whoa…" said Robbie. He grinned as he looked down at Natalie, "Want to go up there?"

"Oh hell no…that's a giant orgy waiting to happen," interrupted Bill.

Grinning Natalie nodded, "Let's get Bill a girl tonight." Being at Studio 54 for only a few minutes, Natalie already could tell that the seedy and wild rumors about it were true. "He really needs one."

Robbie laughed and Bill replied, "No Bill does not need a girl…especially one from here…"

Natalie rolled her eyes and yanked Bill by the arm towards the staircase, "Who are you and what have you done with Bill Baker?" Robbie helped Natalie and took Bill's other arm. "Plus," she said, "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity--they're closing this place in a few days."

Bill laughed, "I wonder why…this place is like a drugged-out STD warehouse." Robbie and Natalie finally got him upstairs and found a place by a railing. From their vantage point they could see the dance floor and were able to see the group of the guys at the bar and OC next to them, talking to three girls who looked too young to be there.

"Want anything to drink guys?" Robbie asked. Bill and Natalie told him what they wanted and he went back downstairs to the bar and pointed out to the rest of the group where they were. Within minutes all of the guys were with Bill and Natalie and Robbie had brought their drinks.

Halfway through the night, OC was still talking to the girls but they brought some of their friends to talk to some of the guys. Natalie was admittedly drunk and found herself trying to silently stare without looking stalker-ish at someone she could've sworn was Andy Warhol. The guys kept replenishing her empty drinks, so Natalie quickly lost track how much alcohol she was actually consuming.

"What are you staring at so intently Natalie?" called out OC.

Natalie was pulled out of her drunken stare and walked up to OC and his small gang of girls. "Nothing…who is everyone?"

OC pointed to each girl as he said their name, "Charlotte, Karen, Liz, Carrie, Sam, and…Meredith." He grinned, "And Rizzo is trying to dance with Miranda over there…" OC pointed towards the dance floor. "I'm so proud of him."

Natalie laughed and turned around to have Bah handing her another drink, "Enjoy it while you can Natalie!" She nodded and accepted the drink before returning to her watching of Andy Warhol…or at least she hoped it was him for all of the time she had spent staring.

More drinks were consumed and Natalie was able to find a stool and sat on it as she conversed with some of the guys—always keeping a watchful eye on the mysterious Mr. Warhol. However, it was OC again who caught her and the group's attention again. "You look pretty green there Liz…I mean, Karen." He was obviously very drunk and was staring apprehensively at one of the girls he had spent the evening with. She shook her head before bending over and vomiting.

"Oh ew…those are, were my shoes!" OC covered his mouth and tried not to look down at his ruined shoes. "This so killed my sex drive."

The guys looked at each other and Rizzo, the most sober one present, wrapped his arm around OC's shoulder. "I'll take him back…" They both waved to everyone as they left.

Robbie turned to Natalie, smiling. "So…Nat…"

"Yersh Robbie?" She was wasted, and she knew it.

"Are you too drunk to dance?" She stood up and tripped. To stop herself, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders/neck. Natalie started to laugh wildly, causing Robbie to laugh as well. "I will take that as a yes."

"Yeash," she sloppily nodded, "I am drunk. Very, vury drunk." Natalie looked around at the atmosphere around her—it was practically a modern day Gomorrah. "I think you should take me home."

Robbie nodded, "Yeah, I think that's a good idea." He signaled Baker to join them and they both helped her walk down the stairs and out of the club, during which Natalie joyfully waved good bye to each person they passed.

Bill helped flag down a cab and assisted Robbie and Natalie into it. He decided that it would be better for him to stay with the other guys in case they needed help home. "See you guys in the morning….take good care of her Mac." And with that he closed the cab door.

After she heard the door close Natalie started to giggle and wrapped her arms around Robbie's neck and started to kissed his neck. "Finally…he's gone and we're alone."

Robbie exchanged glances with the taxi driver via the rearview window and relocated her arms to her sides, "Not here Nat…"

Natalie looked up at Robbie as she leaned against him, "Robbie, are you mad that I am leaving to go to Columbia?"

"No Nat, I'm not mad. I want you to be happy." He smiled slightly and kissed her forehead. "You're going to regret this in the morning."

"I don't care…but really you're not mad?"

"Really."

"You know that leaving you is going to hurt…a lot. A lot a lot." She sighed and drunkenly blew a stay lock of hair off of her face. "You know why it is going to hurt so much?"

Robbie smiled and chuckled to himself, "Why?"

Natalie stared him in the eye; in that moment and a few to follow, Robbie could've sworn that she was lucid. "Because I love you."

And two seconds later she passed out, her torso slumping and eventually falling into Robbie's lap.


	20. 1234

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by: __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers: Same as Chapter 1_

_Thank you everyone for your reviews—I am so glad so many of you enjoyed the chapter, I had a lot of fun writing it and it sounds terrible, but every so often I made myself laugh while reading it. Choosing a song for it was so difficult because I wanted something fun but still was able to somewhat create the theme/message of the chapter._

_Song: "1234" by __Feist_

Natalie woke up that morning in her hotel bed…and she wasn't alone. She felt someone's arm around her waist and after turning around, she saw that Robbie had spent the night with her.

Her turning caused Robbie to wake up. His eyes opened and he smiled, "Good morning."

She smiled, "Morning…oh…ow…" She rolled over on her back. "My head…" she groaned.

Robbie grinned and got up to fetch Natalie some painkillers. He climbed back into bed next to her and handed Natalie three Advil and a glass of water.

"Thanks," she said, immediately taking the medication.

"I know that you are hungover and everything…but we really need to talk."

Natalie gulped down the rest of the water, "About?"

"Last night."

"Oh no…who did I make out with?" She turned towards Robbie, "I was really drunk and didn't mean it…I am so sorry."

He laughed slightly, "No, that was me…in the taxi if you can even remember that, but I have a feeling that you don't."

She shook her head, "I don't, but why do you say that?"

Robbie cleared his throat, "Because also in the taxi you said something quite interesting."

"What did I say?"

He gulped and took her hands in his, "You said that you love me."

Natalie turned pale, "I said what?"

"You said 'I love you.'"

Her voice got quiet, "Really?" He nodded and she gulped and looked down at the sheets in front of her. She noticed that she wasn't in the clothes she was in last night but instead in a soft t-shirt and PJ bottoms. "Did you change me?"

"Yes…don't change the subject."

Natalie began to tear up, "What do you want me to say Robbie?"

"Well…do you love me?"

"God…" she sniffed and wiped her nose, "I'm hungover…this is so unfair. I look and feel like crap and you just expect me to say whether or not I love you?" She leaned her head against the headboard and looked at him, "It just doesn't work like that…"

He smirked and kissed her cheek while wrapping an arm around her waist, "Well I happen to think you look gorgeous."

"Shut up, my hair is stringy and tangled and I probably have raccoon eyes."

"No…" he kissed the spot behind her ear, "I think your hair is sexy the way it is…all wavy and messy." Robbie grinned at her, "And you don't have raccoon eyes."

Natalie tried to hide her grin and waved him off, "Stop it…you're distracting me."

"I don't care…" He kissed down the side of her neck and slide down the bed. "So…do you love me?" Robbie glanced up at her for a moment and smirked.

"Do you love me?" she retorted.

He bunched her shirt to expose her stomach and started to place kisses randomly around her navel, "Maybe…do you love me?"

She giggled, "That tickles…"

"Tell me."

"You first," she insisted. When she saw that he was about to argue she stopped him, "I sorta had my turn last night."

He sat up and cleared his throat, "I…" Robbie paused and sighed, "Nat, I can't say what I feel without knowing that it is reciprocated. I just won't be able to handle it if you don't—"

Natalie cut him off with a kiss, "I know. I love you too."


	21. A Bad Dream

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers: Same as Chapter 1_

_Thank you everyone for your reviews—I enjoyed reading them. Sadly, this chapter is nowhere as sweet as the previous one was._

_Song: "A Bad Dream" by Keane_

Running. Natalie was running. She thought that she had left the days of running in heels once she graduated college, but apparently she was wrong. Nothing seemed real at that moment and all that was going through Natalie's mind was the wild hope that everything that was happening at that moment was a bad dream.

Minutes earlier she was almost running, trying to keep up with Doc as he retrieved her from the arena portion of Madison Square Garden. "Natalia…you must keep him calm. And keep ice on that knee."

"Do you know what is wrong with him yet?" She had never seen her uncle walk so fast nor look so concerned.

"I'm not positive, I am hoping it is a stretched ligament but we won't know for certain until we can get an X-Ray of the knee. Go to OC, keep him calm and keep that knee iced up. I am going to call a few hospitals and arrange for us to get an X-ray and then I'll talk to Herb."

Natalie nodded, "Okay, anything else?"

"Don't let him stand or anything…no matter what he tells you Natalia. If treated incorrectly this injury could affect more than just his Olympic career. Go…hurry." Doc turned around and went to search for the closest private phone where no one could overhear him. Natalie broke into a run towards the locker room. Madison Square Garden had a twisted and complicated layout that did not allow anyone to get anywhere quickly.

She got to the door of the locker room and paused momentarily to catch her breath and smooth out her suit. Then, taking a deep breath, she opened the door and walked into the training area. There was OC, laying out on a table with a bag of ice on his knees—obviously distraught. Natalie felt her heartbreak, "Oh Jack…"

OC looked up at her, "Since when do you call me Jack?"

Natalie walked up to him and slightly smiled, "Since…never."

He sat up, "Okay, just get it over with. Tell me."

She shook her head, "I don't know much."

"C'mon, they send the pretty girl to give me the crappy news so it doesn't feel as crappy. Just tell me that they have decided to take me off of the team Natalie. I can take it."

Natalie squatted so she was at eye level with his knee, "Doc is calling a few hospitals so we can get an X-ray of your knee." She lifted up the ice bag slightly so she could see the extent of his bruising, "Once we have a better idea what is wrong with your knee, everything will be…decided."

"What do you think is wrong?"

She placed the ice back on his knee and sat down on a bench, "I don't know OC. It could be a stretched ligament…I hope that's what it is. That way—" the phone cut her off. Natalie answered it, "Hello?" She listened to Doc, who was on the other end, and hung up the phone. "Herb will be here in a few minutes…" Natalie exited the room, scared what Herb was going to do.

Doc excused her from going to the hospital with him and OC, allowing her to spend the rest of the evening with Robbie, however after their discussion Natalie half-wished that she went to the hospital instead.

They were in her room so they could have some privacy and as they lay on the bed together neither of them said much. Both of them were concerned about OC and Robbie seemed to be disheartened by the very one-sided game. Every so often, one would say something to the other.

"When do you start classes at Columbia?" he asked.

"Late August."

Robbie sat up and looked down at Natalie, "Then come to Buffalo with me until then, it would give us some more time."

Natalie slowly shook her head, "I can't…"

"Come on Nat, what else will you be doing during those few months?"

"I'm going to be moving all of my stuff here…and I'm going to visit my parents for a few weeks."

"Okay, what else? Seriously Nat, why don't you want to join me in Buffalo—even if it is for two weeks?"

"I have to get a job here—it will be easier for me to find a job after graduation if I start working part-time now."

He shook his head, "I don't get this. I'm trying to make this work and you don't seem to even want to try."

"Robbie…I do want this to work."

"Then try! That's what people who love each other do—they try hard to make their relationship work." He flopped back down on the bed. "What is going on?"

"Nothing…I just have a lot on my plate right now, I'm making a lot of changes."

"Yeah, I've noticed. What caused this sudden desire for you to go to Columbia to get your Master's?"

Natalie started to tear up and she gulped—she didn't feel right or ready to tell Robbie why. "I don't know…it just suddenly happened," she lied.

"Yeah…I'm sure it did." He turned out the light. The entire night went by and neither of them touched each other—not even by accident. When Natalie woke up to see his back towards her she wished that he left instead of staying.


	22. The Reason Why

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers: Same as Chapter 1_

_Neonnbible__: I would be the same way…but we're not Natalie…sadly._

_Vaughnloveralwaysandforev__: Aw, thank you! And hopefully all of your questions are answered in this chapter. It still isn't that sweet, but __the next chapter will be…how to describe it? Steamy would be one word._

_Song: "The Reason Why" by Rachael Yamagata (Seriously—check her out! She's amazing.)_

Natalie did not know how to describe her current status with Robbie—they were together, but silent. Whenever a group of them were together, Natalie and Robbie would always stand or sit next to each other with Robbie's arm around her waist, but it wasn't the same. They spent nights together and although they bid each other good night with a quick peck, they still didn't talk much. Natalie tried to tell herself that it was because of the pressure Robbie was feeling from the Olympics, but she wasn't very sure of that.

Their first game was against Sweden and it was a difficult game for the team. Natalie stood next to OC for the entirety of the game. She could tell that he was itching to drop his crutches and join the guys on the ice, but he knew that if he tried he would be sent home. During the second period Robbie got pretty severe upper-leg contortions, Natalie looked over at Doc, silently asking him if he needed help but he shook his head and within a few minutes took Robbie to the locker room. She was concerned about Robbie, but Natalie told herself that it wasn't serious and tried to pay close attention to the game.

Herb was by no means happy regarding the way the team was playing and he made his displeasure very apparent during the break before the last period. Natalie was standing outside of the locker room, in front of the door, to make sure people wouldn't congregate in front of it or try to enter to locker room. She could hear Herb yelling and there was a crash that sounded an awful lot like a table being turned over. But then she heard someone else yelling, and if she was correct—it was Robbie.

Natalie watched as Herb strode out of the locker room, he glanced at Natalie who had a confused look on her face, "Had to light a fire under their asses." She didn't know how to respond so she nodded briefly as he continued to walk back to the rink. Soon the team walked out and to her surprise, Robbie was walking towards the ice still in uniform. He finished the game, slight limp and all.

Thankfully, they tied the game and as they guys filtered back into their rooms Natalie decided that she had enough and pulled Robbie to the side.

"What's going on Nat?" he asked.

"Get your coat, we're going to get coffee or something—we need to talk."

Robbie stared at her for a second, almost as if he were reading her, before he nodded, "Okay…" He grabbed his coat, "Let's go." They found an empty bench by an outdoor public ice rink and Natalie waited until Robbie fetched the both of them some coffee. He glanced at her, "What's up?"

"I want to go to Columbia because I need the change."

Robbie huffed a laugh, "Change? That's all? Fine…but why won't you join me in Buffalo?"

Natalie shifted and faced him, "Because I need to be away. Away from Minnesota, away from hockey, away from all of my friends, and away from you."

He sipped on his coffee, "Is this you breaking up with me or something?"

She shook her head, "No…I love you Robbie, I really really do. However during these past seven months I have no idea what happened or why it did happen. I thought that I knew myself--I thought, or maybe assumed would be the better word, that I was a rational person who thought everything through. And now I look back at the decisions and actions I made and I don't see the person who I thought I was. I don't know if it is a case where I have changed or if I don't actually know myself as well as I thought I did. Either way, I need time to myself where I can sort out all of these issues and these…thoughts."

Robbie slowly nodded, "So you regret what you did?"

"I wouldn't say that I regret everything…I just look back and the person that I thought I was wouldn't have dated Rizzo for the stupid reasons that I did and would not have slept with you while dating him."

"So you regret it then."

Natalie sighed, "No, Robbie I don't regret it. I just need…as cliché as it sounds, I just need to get to know myself again. And I am going to Columbia because I've always wanted to become a nurse practitioner and I just figured that this would be a great time for me to go after that goal. I want to become a better person."

Robbie nodded again and sat in silence for a few minutes, "So you can't be a better person with me then?"

"No! This is just such a personal thing so I need to do this myself…that's all."

He stood up and offered Natalie his arm, "We should go back—it's getting late." They walked back in silence and Natalie was even more unsure of where they stood. The next day they were still playing the same game—being together but silent and it drove her crazy.

The team continued to play games...and they kept winning. After each win, Robbie would kiss Natalie on the cheek before celebrating with the team. Natalie understood that each win was meaningful to the team and they should celebrate together, but she still felt as if she was being ignored. And as she tried to fall asleep one night, Natalie formulated a plan.


	23. Many the Miles

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers: Same as Chapter 1_

_Rating: Let's just say "Mature" just to be safe._

_Author's Note: I had this chapter pretty much fully written when I posted the previous chapter—song picked and everything. And it was a very hot and bothered chapter. However, when reading it as part of the story as a whole, it just didn't seem to fit—especially with Robbie and Natalie's current situation. I spent the whole day re-writing it (I had to keep walking away from it to figure out what needed to change and what needed to be added) and for the most part, I am happy with it. Expect one to two more chapters plus an epilogue. But do not fret! I have the beginnings of a new story churning in my head…_

_Thank you for your reviews everyone, they really do help keep me writing._

_Song: "Many the Miles" by Sara __Bareilles__ (Her new album "Little Voice" came out the 3__rd__ and it is wonderful, plus quite a steal on iTunes Music Store for about $7)_

Although she had her misunderstandings of the male sex, Natalie was certain about a few things about them. The schedule for the medal round was released and the team was just informed that they would be playing the Soviets…soon. Some of the guys wanted to go out and drink their worries away and few others decided that a night-long poker game would do the trick. Natalie didn't know which option Robbie decided, but she didn't care. Slipping into a baggy sweatshirt and a pair of PJ pants, she stuck her head out into the hallway when she heard a group of the guys congregating. Bill was one of them and she flagged him over.

"Staying in Natalie? Never thought that I would see the day this would happen."

"Shut up, can you do me a favor? Can you tell Robbie that I want to see him?"

Bill shook his head, "Do it yourself."

Natalie pouted, "Please?"

"Fine, I'll do it…"

She immediately closed her door and changed into a different pair of pants—these were still loose fitting but the satin made them more…enticing. She also changed into a loose and lacy tank top.

There was a knock at the door and Natalie glanced through the peep hole before running into her bathroom, "Come in!" She pretended to brush her teeth as Robbie walked in.

"Hey, Bill said you wanted to talk to m—" He stopped talking as Natalie turned around to face him. She saw that he looked her up and down and then focused on a body part that was not her face.

"Yeah…and I am up here." She smiled as he shook his head slightly.

He sat down on the edge of her bed, "Can this wait until later? I was going to go out with some of the guys…"

"No, it can't wait. Something is wrong between us and I want to fix it." She straddled his lap, "I know that you're not happy that I need some time to myself, but we can still try to make this work." Natalie kissed him, "Right?"

Almost involuntarily, Robbie's hands went to her side and as their kiss deepened they traveled underneath her tank top. Natalie started to think that this was too easy for her and she peeled Robbie's sweater off of him. That, however, caused him to stop. "What is this Nat? You just miss the sex?"

Natalie leaned forward, making him lie flat on the bed and offering him quite a view as she leaned over him, supporting herself with her hands on either side of him. "You can't deny that you miss it too."

He gulped, "Well…It's not that I don't…but what exactly are you trying to do here?"

Natalie smirked, "Aside from the obvious?"

Robbie rolled his eyes, "Seriously Nat."

She sighed, "You don't look at me anymore…you just seem to look past or through me. We're together, but we're not together. It's like we're fulfilling this image that we feel that we have to keep up." Natalie saw that his eyes were wandering again, "Robbie."

His eyes didn't move, "Hm?"

"I'm up here."

Robbie's eyes immediately went back to Natalie's face, "Sorry."

"For what? I want you to look at me, but I shouldn't have to do this in order for you to do so."

"Nat, how do you expect us to work if you're not even trying to make us work?"

Natalie sighed and leaned back so she was sitting upright, "I don't get it…this is me trying to make it work. All I am asking from you is that you respect my needs and my desires and you don't seem to understand that. And when all I am trying to do is to get you to look at me, you do this." She paused and looked at him, "I should've known better." Natalie climbed off of him and started to walk towards the bathroom, "I need a shower. I trust that you can walk yourself to the door." She kept her back facing him as she took off her tank top and closed the bathroom door.

The warm water felt good against Natalie's back, the past week had been stressful with numerous games, her upcoming move to New York, and her situation with Robbie. She partly wanted the Olympics to hurry up and end so the stress would go away, but she knew that the ending of the Olympics she would have to say good-bye to Robbie.

She finished her shower and decided that a drink, or a walk at least, was in order. Natalie needed to clear her head and she couldn't do it in her room. As she was walking down the hall she ran into Rizzo.

"Hey Natalie…you okay? You look upset."

Natalie tried to smile but couldn't, "Thanks Rizzo, it's just…" she didn't know whether or not Rizzo would like to hear about her and Robbie.

He nodded, "Problems between you and Robbie?" Natalie was shocked and didn't know what to say, but Rizzo continued, "Let's go get a drink and you can talk about it…if you want to."

"Thanks…that sounds great. I was actually going to wander the Olympic Village in search of a bar." She tucked a few stray strand of hair behind her ear, "Are you sure that you want to hear about my troubles with Robbie?"

"Natalie, we're friends. And friends are there for each other, right?"

She nodded and they went to a bar that was in the Olympic Village. Every so often a member of the team would stop by and talk for a minute or two, or there was the occasional athlete that Rizzo had met earlier that week would walk by, saying hello. Even with the interruptions, Natalie was glad that she had someone to talk to.

"I don't get it, why is he upset at you?"

Natalie took a sip, "He doesn't like that I am going to Columbia. Nor that I want to use my time before classes start as time for myself, time to figure out a bunch of shit that is going on in my life."

Rizzo nodded, "Columbia?"

"What? Are you upset too?"

He chuckled, "Not even…that's great for you. Plus, now you're even closer to Boston. I visit NYC a lot so maybe we can meet up every once in a while."

She smiled, "I would like that."

"Don't worry about Robbie, he'll calm down and come to terms that you are trying to improve yourself. He's probably just shocked right now."

Natalie decided to leave it at that and the rest of their conversation was enjoyable—funny even. She forgot how easy it was to talk to Rizzo. They spent an hour or two more before retiring for the night. Somehow Natalie misplaced the key to her room and had to go downstairs to the front desk and show identification in order to receive an extra key to her room.

A lamp was lit, which perplexed Natalie for a moment until she saw Robbie sitting on the foot of her bed. He looked up at her, "Hey."

She closed the door, "Hey…how did you get in here?"

Robbie held up the lost key, "I accidentally took your key instead of mine as I left here last time." He stood up and placed it on her dresser, "So, I saw you out with Rizzo."

Natalie rolled her eyes, "So now you are jealous? I bumped into him on my way over there and he noticed that I was upset and decided to join me so we could talk. It was noth—"

He cut her off, "I wasn't saying that." He walked up to her and kissed her, "I love you Nat. And seeing you with him upset me, but it wasn't jealousy. I can't stand the idea of seeing you with another guy…and I mean 'with' as in dating. It hurts." He rubbed her arms, "And then I realized that I was icing you out because I didn't want to say good-bye to you…but by doing so I was going to lose you. And I can't lose you." Robbie kissed her again, "I am sorry for being such an ass." He kissed her again, "Forgive me?"

Natalie smiled, "Damn you…that lovely speech just made me forget why I was mad at you."

Robbie grinned, "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

He kissed her, "Great, now can you put that tank top back on? 'Cause it was hot."


	24. Closer

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers: Same as Chapter 1_

_Neonnbible__: Thanks for the review and Sara's album is totally worth purchasing. It is well put together and I think she takes a great songwriting direction for a female vocalist—the sappy sad love songs are minimal if even existent._

_Vaughnloveralwaysandforev__: Thanks for the revie__w—and updating your story—twice! I am glad that you liked the chapter._

_Author's Note: This is the final __chapter,__ I know all of you will go up in arms after reading the ending but do not fret—the epilogue will be posted soon! I had a really hard time writing this chapter, I'd write a little, walk away, come back, and then write some more. It is difficult parting with this __fic__, and I think it is somewhat fitting that the last chapter is as simple as it is._

_Song: "Closer" by Joshua __Radin__ (This guy's voice is pure magic__**magic**__ I tell you!_

Spinning, this time Natalie was spinning. She didn't know how, but somehow the guys did it—they had beat the Russians. After a nail-bitingly tense game they had won and Natalie was swept up into a bear hug by Bill who was also spinning her around on the ice.

Bill set her down, and Natalie tried to not to slip in her heels as she carefully walked across the rink towards Robbie. However, him being in skates, he was able to reach her first. Natalie leapt up into his arms and once again she was spinning as Robbie hugged her, with her legs wrapped around his waist. Robbie kissed Natalie before setting her back down, and she saw that the ice was absolute chaos.

But this wasn't even close to the reaction after they won the gold medal game. That celebration she was dipped and kissed deeply by Robbie before he let anyone else hug her. She got bruises from the boys tackling/hugging her and the crowd that gathered on the ice continually bumped into anyone not wearing skates. The entire team went out to celebrate that night and it seemed like everyone that saw the team wanted to join them. Most of the team got trashed that night, but both Natalie and Robbie limited their alcoholic intake.

Something that Natalie had always wondered was whether or not it was true that women had a so-called "afterglow" after sex. She sure didn't feel one at the moment, as glorious as that night was—it was bittersweet, the beginning of the end. Natalie looked to her side at Robbie, "So…do you have a plan?"

He smiled, "About what?"

Natalie played with the top seem of the sheets, "Us…you in Buffalo and me in New York. What do we do?"

Robbie sighed, "I honestly don't know Nat…I've been thinking about it for a long time…"

"Me too…it wouldn't be classified as a break up if we agreed to let whatever happens happen…would it?"

He looked crestfallen, "So the possibility of us never seeing each other again is alright with you?"

Smiling, Natalie shook her head, "Robbie, this is us. We have this weird knack of finding each other in really strange places…remember that summer we both spent in Europe and we kept unknowingly bumping into each other?"

Robbie's eyes glazed over for a second as he reminisced, "Yeah…I don't know…I don't want to say we'll talk about it later because we're honestly running out of time."

"We won't say good-bye because it won't be good-bye. And after I am done with school and everything, I could be ready to move elsewhere—wherever you're playing."

"I don't know Nat…" he sighed, "I guess you're right. Whatever happens, happens. If this isn't meant to be, so be it." Robbie leaned over and kissed her, "Can I sleep now?"

She laughed, "Men…so typical. Fine, go to bed."

Natalie was never the type to like tearful farewells and she knew that she couldn't handle another one with Robbie. During the next day and a half she got everyone's contact information that she needed or wanted and tried to spend each spare moment with Robbie.

During the medal ceremony, Natalie felt her chest swell with pride—never in a million dreams did she think what she was watching was possible. But here it was—actually happening! That night Robbie and Natalie didn't party with the team, they wanted to spend every second together possible since Natalie was leaving the next morning.

However, Natalie couldn't sleep. She knew what she was going to do in the morning was not necessarily right—but she saw no other way. As the sun rose over the mountains, Natalie started to silently pack her suitcases and get herself ready. She was ready before the alarm went off—just the way she planned it. Robbie was still asleep, tangled in the sheets and taking up almost the whole bed. Natalie sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes slightly tearing up, and kissed Robbie. He stirred and muttered, "What're you doing?"

"Getting ready, it's still early—go back to sleep."

Robbie was practically asleep when he woke up to Natalie's kiss so it took him less than ten seconds to fall back asleep. She stood up with tears silently rolling down her cheeks, gathered her baggage, and left the room—silently closing the door behind her.


	25. Life is Beautiful

_Can't Stop Now_

_Written by __BurntOrange_

_Disclaimers: Same as Chapter 1_

_Author's Note: Wow. It's over. And I am oddly excited—probably because I have a new story in the works so I won't be lonely. The title of it will be (very likely) Caring is Creepy…and yes, I am keeping up with naming everything after songs. I love music and suggesting music to other people and I guess this is my way of doing it to y'all. Thank you for your loyal readership—it's been wonderful getting feedback from you all._

_So stay tuned for a new story—new adventures with Robbie (I just love writing his character) and Rachel (again, very likely). It'll be a fun story (I hope). Rachel is/will be very much different than Natalie, but still similar…_

_Song: "Life is Beautiful" by Vega4_

December 1983. Natalie went to a bar after work with a few of her fellow co-workers. Life had been good, great actually. Being a nurse practitioner brought a new-found passion to her career, she had more time with her patients where she got to actually talk and get to know them instead of having to spend all of her time with them taking their blood, blood pressure, temperature, and etc.

She wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings or the people around her as she joked and drank with her friends. That was until one of them stepped away from her to go to the bathroom, giving her a clear view of him. Natalie felt her stomach plummet and chest fill with butterflies. She had been hoping and praying to see him once she heard that the coach of the Rangers had changed.

Natalie walked up to him, smiling, "I've been hoping you'd come here sooner or later."

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Months later, she was entering the Nat King Cole bar at the St. Regis hotel. Natalie quickly scanned the bar, looking for the person she was meeting there. Seeing his familiar silhouette, she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Rizzo! It's been too long, how are you?"

Rizzo immediately stood up and hugged her, "It's great to see you Natalie…I'm doing pretty well. What about yourself? You've had a complete transformation since I've seen you last." They both sat down and Natalie ordered herself a drink as they quickly caught each other up about their lives.

"Well, I have a new girlfriend…a different one than the one you met when you were in Boston last year…"

"Really? What is she like?"

Rizzo grinned sheepishly, "Her name is Meredith and she owns a small fashion boutique. Since I've started to date her I've become more fashion savvy—she's started to dress me I swear."

Natalie laughed, "Well you look good."

"She'd be thrilled to hear it, you'd love her. Mer is very much like you…"

"I'd love to meet her sometime…"

"Yeah, well enough about me…" Rizzo cleared his throat, "What about you? I swear I've never seen you look so sophisticated…are those actual diamond earrings that you're wearing?"

"Yeah…" Natalie chuckled, she forgot that the Natalie Rizzo got to know during the Olympics was very much a different person. After the Olympics she had traveled to her parents in Hong Kong for a few weeks and spent the rest of the time before her classes started in Europe—traveling around her favorite countries and using her time alone to become reacquainted with herself. But that was more of an inward change.

She sipped her drink, "I've recently entered a new phase of my life…and this phase sometimes requires me to y'know…" Natalie gestured at her ensemble, "Wear diamond earrings and black designer wrap-dresses."

Rizzo chuckled, "Almost like an NHL wife it sounds like…"

Natalie half-smiled at his comment and muttered into her glass as she took another sip of her drink , "Almost…"

Right then, she felt a hand land on her shoulder. Natalie looked up and smiled, "Hey—you made it!"

Robbie smiled, "Sure did, sorry that I was late." He looked to Rizzo, "Great to see you Rizzo!" They gave each other a manly hug before Rizzo seated himself back on his stool and Robbie sat on Natalie's other side. "What're you drinking?"

Natalie offered her glass, "Amaretto sour…" It was then that Rizzo noticed that earrings weren't the only piece of diamond jewelry that Natalie was wearing.

Robbie shook his head and made a face, "Too girly for me thanks."

Rizzo cleared his throat, "Are you engaged?" He wasn't sure if he was hallucinating the sparkling ring on Natalie's left ring finger.

Natalie beamed at Robbie before looking back at Rizzo, "Have been for two weeks."


End file.
